Pilot Ridge, White Pass - Pilot Ridge Loop, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Section K - Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass & North Fork Sauk River — Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Been conditioning myself for this since spring to do the loop in one day. Started out from the North Fork Sauk Trailhead at 6:00am. Parking lot was full, but saw very few hikers on the trail. Took the Pilot Ridge Trail which required an easy ford across the Sauk(There was a large wide blowdown across the river). I took this route because it is less exposed and get the major elevation gain done early, not knowing how many elevation gains and losses there were going to be on this hike. The Pilot Ridge trail has not been cleared, but the blowdowns were easy to get around and after breaking out of the trees on the ridgeline there were some brushy areas when it entered the trees again. After an elevation loss and gain on the ridge the trail breaks out into some spectacular meadows with awesome views and some of the first great views of Glacier Peak. I passed the trail For Johnson Mountain and dropped down to Blue Lake. There was a junction for Bald Eagle Mountain and I took the left to the Lake. After thinking most of the climbing was done, there was a bear of a climb from Blue Lake to a ridgeline where I stopped and took in the views, hydrated myself, and ate something. The trail then dropped down to Dishpan Gap and where I joined the PCT and headed to White Pass. After the scramble up from Blue Lake the elevation gains and losses on the PCT were not bad and the outstanding views didn't make me notice. Beautiful section of the PCT, was hard to put the camera down and words cannot describe it. Reached the junction with the Sauk, and the forest walk when I reached the river was a welcome relief after such a long hike. I heard a lot of bugs on this hike, but they were not a problem and I didn't even use bug juice. I think the cool wind at the higher elevations kept them at bay. The forest service website says this is a 26 mile loop, but speaking to some other hikers and my own calculations it was more like 30. Did not get back to the car until 7:00pm. A long and awesome hike.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/131390368@N07/sets/72157651169731608/
• https://www.flickr.com/gp/131390368@N07/936mMY