White Pass, Red Pass, Cinder Cone, White Chuck Glacier ... all are within reach, but can you get there? We set off on the North Fork Sauk River Road, parking less than a mile from the Mountain Loop Highway where a relatively minor road washout has effectively closed access to the now-empty Sloan Creek Campground. Maybe some savvy volunteers will get together sometime and fix this in a day! The sign at the Highway warns ""No Parking at Road End,"" but we saw four other cars parked at the washout. We managed to squeeze into a fifth space, leaving just enough to allow a turnaround but anyone else coming in would have to drive back out to the main road. Notices here warned that the White River Trail east from the PCT was temporarily closed due to fires. We later met hikers intending to follow the PCT from Red Pass to Kennedy Hot Springs. Until the road is repaired, hikers (and bikers) will enjoy a pleasant six mile warm up walk along the forested and level North Fork Sauk Road (otherwise in fine condition) to the Sloan Creek Campground, which we covered in a short two hours. Without further ado, we hit the heavily mossed, level and cool trail along the North Fork Sauk River, passing old growth firs and 35 easy to cross blowdowns to reach the Mackinaw Shelter, five miles and four well-rested hours later. A mile before the shelter at Red Creek, there's a possible log crossing a short way upstream, and an easier six-foot high log crossing 25 yards downstream. It was also easy to walk straight across. From here, though we didn't know it at the time, we faced another six hours until we would reach our campsite north of Red Pass. Though the trail up to the PCT is only three or four miles, the elevation rises from under 3000 at the River to about 6000 feet. Water was available along the way to help lighten the load, and views of the expanding mountainous horizons encouraged stops along the way. As we trudged higher and higher, fragile-winged butterflies and then an aluminum-winged 737 out on maneuvers flew along with us. (At the avalanche about halfway up, look for the bypass trail to the right.) Five hours later, after briefly missing the left hand turn at the intersection with the PCT (sign missing), we reached Red Pass and, oddly miles from anywhere with seven other hikers who all happened to arrive at the same time, we all gazed across to the partial view of Glacier Peak's rugged south face and down into the White Chuck River valley. Though there are camps almost two miles further down the pass, we took the loads off our feet as quickly as possible on one of the rocky perches just below, surrounded by melting snow and crystal waters. From here, we hiked the next day to the top of Cinder Cone where we spent quite the fine time with views of ice-covered ponds and snow-covered mountains and glaciers. We must have been seen by the pilots of the low-flying KC-130. This cindery cone-top vantage is perfect for scoping out the trip up to the White Chuck Glacier which, alas, will have to wait another visit. The country here above 5500 feet is full of heather and wild flowers, but not too many huckleberries this season. Retracing our steps to Red Pass in the evening, we tried for the summit of Portal Peak, but that got a little steep for me not too far up. Instead, I strolled back toward White Pass, at one point sitting close to a covey of grouse and at another listening to the whistles of the marmots. And the sun set. Low pressure moved in the next morning and so we decided to aim for a delectable dinner of omelettes and beer in the cafe in Granite Falls instead of peanuts at a stormy White Pass. Had we stayed another day, we could have touched the White Chuck Glacier or moved camp back to the empty meadows of White Pass. Instead we packed out our gear dry and enjoyed the 16 or 17 miles back to the car in a relatively comfortable 9 1/2 hours. Except for the avalanche (bypassable) and the minor blowdowns, the trail is in excellent shape. Bugs were out wherever we sat during most of the sunny days, but mostly disappeared during the breezy evenings. ... When they (we?) fix that very, very fixable problem at the beginning of the road, the hike to Red Pass will be a piece of cake!

Since the Sloan Cr Rd is still closed due to a small washout .8 mi from Mt Loop Hwy, I biked the ~7 miles from that point to the N Fork Sauk trailhead. I am 58 and in decent shape and the bike ride took 1.5 hrs with 35 Lb pack on my back. Signs say no parking past the Mt Loop Hwy junction, but there is room for several cars at the washout. No trees across road. From trailhead to Mackinaw Shelter, several blowdowns and some debris on trail - annoying, but not much trouble to cross them. From Mackinaw to PCT, avalanche swaths cause more problems, as several switchbacks cross the same avalanche path multiple times. Again, annoying, but not time consuming to find the way. No water to speak of between Mackinaw and 5,000 ft mark. Unsual number of snowpatches at White Pass, where I camped for a couple days. Makes for more choices of campsites due to plenty of snowmelt trickles here and there. I have been to this area 4 of the last 8 years and the flowers are unprecedented. I logged 55 species along the way. The Lightning Creek High Route north from White Pass is easy to navigate and a great day hike for several miles. Saw golden eagles, a huge black bear, grouse families and lots of marmots. Off the Lightning Creek route up the ridge are spectacular views down into Glacier Peak Meadows, White Chuck Glacier and Glacier Peak itself. The nice part about biking up is the ride down, which took 45 min. Bugs are out at White Pass on hot days. Saw only one other party on this weekend.

27 consecutive, long, steep switchbacks. Pack a lunch for this one folks.

My son and I decided to make Pilot Ridge, PCT and the Sauk River trail our yearly outing and enjoyed the solitude and great views. We arrived at the Lost Creek bridge closure at noon and were on the trail following lunch. Walking in 2 1/2 miles via the road to the Sloan Creek campground went quickly as did the next 2 miles on Trail #649 to the crossing of the Sauk River via logs and the start up Trail #652 to Pilot Ridge. Drinking lots of water at the Sauk River and also along the first two thousand feet is most important as it is dry on Pilot Ridge till you arrive at Blue Lakes. We chose to set up camp at the top of Pilot Ridge having arrived around 7 PM. Good views in all directions. We broke camp at 7:30 AM the following morning beating the heat of the day to Blue Lakes. We had lunch rehydrated at the upper lake and then scrambled up Trail 652A and over the pass to Trail 650 dropping down to Dishpan Gap. We took the PCT 2000 north Indian Pass and then on the camp at Reflection Pond. We awoke late and hiked on up PCT past White Pass and then started dropping down on Trail 649 where there were some blow-downs and trail overgrowth. Red Creek was also a log crossing. Arrived back at truck at 6 PM.

Okay, some good news here. The closure at Lost Creek on FR 49 is only 2.3 miles from the North Fork Sauk Trail. An easy mountain bike ride to the trailhead. The road leading to the washout has some rough spots, so you may want to park at the trailhead for Lost Creek Ridge and bike from there. The Mountain Loop Highway is in pretty bad shape-lots of potholes-plan on spending more time driving. The trail-is generally in good shape but you'll have to contend with a series of blowdowns; two in particular that are a pain in the butt to get around. Most of the windfall is in the first 1.5 miles. A new washout too at about 1.5 miles-about 100 feet wide, but not difficult to cross. Beyond the Pilot Ridge Trail junction-only one speed bump- a gigantic Douglas-fir lying in the trail requiring a little extra effort to get beyond it. I went as far as Red Creek which is cranking and would not be a good idea to cross. There is however a log jam slightly upstream that could probably be crossed carefully and with a prayer. Trail is snowfree and the river is quite spectacular right now.