I started at the North Fork Sauk trailhead. The parking area is well used by hikers and climbers. It is also signed as a high crime area so beware what you leave in your vehicle. From here it is a 3 mile, uphill, road walk to the Bald Eagle Trail (650) trailhead. The trail crosses a bridge and continues on old road bed making for easy walking. After 3 miles or so, the trail leaves the road bed and climbs the hillside. This is a stock trail and recently brushed and logged in several areas.
About 6 miles from the trailhead you arrive at Curry Gap, a green meadow with water and places to camp. Here the Bald Eagle trail continues uphill and provides the first alternative on the loop hike, eventually connecting to the PCT at Dishpan Gap. I found the Quartz Creek Trail (1050) and began descending to the trailhead about 4.5 miles away. This trail is also graded for stock making it an easy hike, but several trees have fallen into and across the trail. All can be climbed over by hikers, but not stock. The worst obstacle is a boulder the size of an old VW Beetle about ¼ mile from the lower trailhead. There is a 6-inch-wide path around the boulder. I was surprised when I arrived at the trailhead and found vehicles in the parking lot. The Forest Service has reopened the road, FS63, since I was last here in 2019. I saw a couple of fly fishermen working a stream. I didn’t notice if they caught anything. Besides the Quartz Creek Trail, this parking lot gives access to the North Fork Skykomish Trail (1051) and the West Cady Ridge Trail (1054). If you don’t want to follow the same loop I did, Follow the North Fork Skykomish Trail or branch off at the Pass Creek Trail (1053). Both connect to the PCT allowing different length loops. I took the West Cady Ridge Trail, 9.5 miles to the PCT. There is water at the trailhead and in some streams along the first mile or so of West Cady Ridge, but there are no good places to camp until you reach the upper ridge after about 3 miles of hiking. I carried water and found a campsite on the ridge.
The next morning, I missed the side trail to the summit of Benchmark Mountain but found the PCT. The sign reads Stevens Pass one way and Cady Pass the other. From here it is about 14 miles to the North Fork Sauk Trail junction. I headed towards Cady Pass climbing a little before descending to the junction with the Pass Creek Trail. Good camping here and great water at a nearby stream. This was the only place I really was annoyed by the bugs. From here I continued north about 4 miles to Lake Sally Ann where I stopped for the night. Many good camp sites and lake water for drinking and cooling off. Some northbound PCT hikers stopped to cool off and refill water containers before hiking further.
I continued north the next morning. I enjoyed hiking the next 9 miles of the PCT. The grades are gentle but haze limited the views. I could see 1 or 2 miles fairly well, but beyond that, the ridges got fuzzy and indistinct. The PCT guide books list several small campsites and water sources on this part of the trail. Many side trails intersect with the PCT in this section. Some from the west as I have mentioned and several more from the east side. I picked a few ripe Huckleberries along the way, very tasty. I planned to stop at White Pass but arrived mid-day and decided to hike out. The PCT connects with the North Fork Sauk Trail (649) about half-a-mile beyond White Pass. A long traverse brought me to the top of 26 switchbacks descending the hillside. The former Mackinaw Shelter is about 3.9 miles from the PCT junction and not far from the bottom of the switchbacks. The shelter is a pile of debris, but the site has great water from the North Fork Sauk River and lots of places to camp. I chose to hike 5.3 miles to the parking lot and return home.
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