North Fork Sauk Falls, North Fork Sauk River & Painted Mountain (Red Mountain) — Sunday, May. 24, 2009

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

These three short hikes make for a great day trip, a sort of Sauk Valley sampler, all accessed by the same route, FS road 49. The first hike, North Fork Sauk Falls, is less than two miles after the turn off from the Mountain Loop. We had to approach from Darrington because Barlow Pass isn't open yet, turning on to FS 49 just before Bedal Creek campground. The trail is very short, maybe 1/8th mile with a drop of 100' to the falls, which are thundering and misting mightily with snowmelt on this warm sunny weekend. Watch out for the rickety stairs and loose hand rails near the bottom. FS Road 49 ends 1/2 mile before the trailhead for the other two hikes due to a washout. There's just room enough to turn around and park abot 200' before the washout. Crossing the gully can be done on the uphill side, an easy leap in you're athletic or a short scramble if you're not. The trailhead is an easy 1/2 mile later at Sloan Creek campground. After pausing to pay our respects to a grove of ancient cedars and sign the trail register, we walked about 200 feet and took the trail to the left for Red Mountain. In a steep (800') mile, you'll come to a former FS lookout site with great views of Sloan Peak and the Cadets. The trail keeps going uphill, but unless you're out to explore deeper into the backcountry, this is a good turn around. We returned to the valley and headed up the North Fork Sauk trail. We followed the river for 2 1/2 miles through swaths of huge old trees surrounded by carpets of wildflowers, from huge skunk cabbage to dainty calypso orchids. There's an avalanche chute to cross, along side of a creek at 2 miles, so watch out for hollow spots beneath otherwise hard packed snow. The FS web page said there would be deep snow after 1 1/2 miles, but we only saw small patches in the shade, so it's probably clear to Red creek at 4 miles, at which point it will be August before you can ford there and continue up the valley. We did all three hikes in six hours, but that includes lunch, photo ops and 45 minutes just gazing from the lookout. This would be a great introduction to the Cascades for out of town friends or young explorers.