North Fork Sauk River, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Section K - Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass, Glacier Peak Meadows & Glacier Gap — Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022

 N Fork Sauk is a busy trail. Camped first night near the fallen shelter at the base of the ridge climb, away from the crowds deeper in the woods. Few bugs. It’s nice to climb to the PCT early in the morning, it would be a long grind in the sun. Saw a bear about a 1000 feet below the PCT, about a 100 feet off the trail in the meadows where there are lots of ripe blueberries. The bear was happy and ignored us. The ridge walk to Red Pass is awesome. The hike down to Glacier Meadows is also stunning. Few shady camps and lots of folks show up after 4. There is a nice camp on the hill near the privy and a great camp down in the valley floor in a cluster of trees if you are going to Glacier Gap. Trail to the Gap is straightforward but intermittent. Stay right of the first two waterfalls and between the two waterfalls below the final climb to the lake near the Gap. The right side waterfall is the outflow stream from the lake.  A compass bearing is useful if you’re confused. The climbing route from White Pass to the Gap is obvious at that point if you want to make a loop. Bugs were intermittently bad at the meadows. Blueberries ripe at around 5000 feet but not along the PCT. A beautiful hike! It took us 6 hours to go all the way from Glacier Meadows back to the car.