North Fork Sauk River — Sunday, Jul. 22, 2012

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The N. Fk. Sauk road (#49) and trail is open for business. The Road opened Friday. The Darrington trailcrew is already hard at work, logging out massive trees from across the trail. Trail is clear to nearly Red Creek. Anyone going in, please take them some cookies or a bit of candy; they're working hard and will be out a few more days (or longer). Trail tread is in good condition; some areas brushed in the beginning, but the crew is working on logging out as a priority. The brushy areas are those that are always brushy - soft brush, not a big deal. Shuffle the feet and watch for stinging nettle. The new bridge at Red Creek is still there. I'd like to know how many other bridges (not including naturally placed footlogs) were built at Red Creek. There's a giant cedar stump on the far side with springboard notches, so it looks like another offical crossing was built long ago.