Amazing, huge old growth -- cedars, hemlocks and firs. Wildflowers are just starting, not flashy but a wide variety.  Many butterflies and birds plus a bear taking his time crossing the road on the way out. And such an easy hike for great old growth! We hiked in 4 miles in and had lunch by rushing, rocky Red Creek. The trail parallels the Sauk River and is smooth and flat with a few easy ups and downs. Big thanks to the WTA crew out doing trail maintenance! 

The only downside is a grinding hour-plus drive up to the trailhead from Darrington with 20 miles of never-ending huge, deep, unavoidable potholes. Our solid SUV was OK but the road could damage a lower clearance vehicle. 

Blog version (disclaimers)

Access: North Fork Sauk Trailhead
Round Trip: 43 miles
Elevation Range: 2080′-7850′
Gear: helmet, crampons, ice ax
Dog-Friendly: with guidance

Route

1. Hike the North Fork Sauk Trail through PCT to White Pass.
2. Continue to White Chuck Glacier Basin and Suiattle Glacier to the 7800' camp by the south notch of Gorgeous Day Peak.
3. Traverse Honeycomb Glacier to the east edge at 6000' around the north ridges of Tenpeak Mountain to Moth Lake.
4. Climb Hoof Peak and return to the glacier to 7100'.
5. Climb Kopeetah Divide and return to camp to exit.

Highlights

• Expansive White Chuck Glacier, Suiattle Glacier, and Honeycomb Glacier
• All visible things in the Glacier Peak Wilderness
• Sunshine and solitude

Lowlights

• Warm temperatures
• Extensive snow travel

May 29, 2023

I'm dropping a quick note for those perhaps looking to explore the place and climb the peak. Our weekend's goals required us to go through the well-known area. I will update the report with actual destinations later.

ROAD 49 TO TRAILHEAD

• Mountain Loop Highway between Barlow Pass and Bedal Campground is closed. Since Road 49 is north of the closure, all traffic must enter via Darrington, WA. That meant extra driving if coming from south of Granite Falls. Google Maps reroutes automatically.
  
• There were more potholes than I remembered; two places that looked like significant washouts at one point were passable in a small car.
• Many parties started the three-day weekend early. I pulled into a packed lot at 6 AM on Saturday, but I believe more spots were available past the trailhead. I didn't check and parked in the single-vehicle pullout 100 feet before the trailhead.

LOWER TRAIL

• There were only a handful of not-yet-blood-thirsty mosquitoes past the trailhead; then it was insect-free out and back.
• A handful of down trees en route, including a couple that required walking over the trunks.
• A mainly flat trail to Mackinaw Shelter at mile 5.25, gaining 900'. The path shot straight up the hillside past the shelter, going through under two dozen switchbacks.
• No water until above the trees. The switchbacks by the ravine could provide access to water by diving into the dense vegetation.
• Snow appeared at 4500', then it was continuous from the edge of the avalanche gully to the last bend before the path went up toward White Pass.
• On the way back on day three, it was mainly dry below 5000'; snow melted incredibly fast in two days.

UPPER TRAIL

• The first few patches over the trail were with less exposure. As the trail climbed through the broad avalanche gully, the exposure increased.
• Three patches before the initial full view of White Pass were pretty airy. I noticed spike marks on the uphill side; glad people used ice axes! Some parts were slick due to the slush; proceed with caution.
• The closer to White Pass, the steeper the boot tracks; the incline lessened right before the pass.
• The Pacific Crest Trail junction at 6000' was still covered in snow, a tad early for the first thru-hikers.

WHITE PASS TO MARMOT KNOB (6770')

• Summer trail (when visible) bypasses the knob to the north before dropping into White Chuck Glacier Basin over the pass.
• We took the saddle west of the high point in the snow and descended steep terrain into the basin.

WHITE CHUCK GLACIER BASIN

• As we made a beeline for the upper basin past 6600', the slew of skiers caught up now that they were on skis from White Pass. Where were all the on-foot climbers???
• One tent perched by the knob at the lower edge of the upper basin, and more would show up as many ski groups scattered throughout the flat area.
• We didn't linger long before taking the off-shoot gully toward Kololo Peaks. We stayed between Suiattle Glacier and Honeycomb Glacier for the next two nights. I highly recommend the spot for those climbing nearby peaks.

GLACIER PEAK

• Judging by the number of tracks on day three, many people visited the basin later on Saturday after we continued to camp. 
• Nearly all parties had left before we descended from Suiattle Glacier mid-morning Monday. After their Glacier Peak climb, we met two guys en route back to White Pass.

Highlights

• Three bluebird days despite possible thunderstorms in the forecast.
• Despite the number of climbers we saw on day one, the basin was eerily quiet.

Lowlights

• A warm three-day weekend, indeed!

The trailhead should be melted out by next weekend. It was possible to get within a half mile last week. Watch for fallen trees.

I set out to hike the North Fork Sauk River trail, approaching from the Darrington side of the Mountain Loop.  There were several trees down on the Mountain Loop which blocked one lane or more, but it was passable with no snow until the turn to Forest Road 49.  Snow began to appear on  FR49 soon after the North Fork Sauk Falls trailhead at one mile in, at about 1800'.  As the snow got a little deeper and there were multiple branches down on the road (some of which I had to remove to drive by), given that more precipitation and winds were in the forecast, I became concerned that if I made it to the trailhead at 6.5 miles in from the Mountain Loop, a tree could come down during my hike and block my exit.  So I turned around and decided to head to my back-up hike at Marten Creek on the Verlot side of the Mountain Loop.  On the way out I did a quick visit to the North Fork Sauk Falls (only a quarter-mile in), which is always a rush, and particularly after a very rainy week.  It was in full gushing glory.

Heading south toward Barlow Pass, I made it to within 1.5 miles of the pass, but unfortunately the snow on the road got so deep that I feared bottoming out in the middle of my car (an Outback).  A higher-clearance vehicle could  likely have made it, but I didn't want to risk it as I knew there was a little more elevation gain to get to the pass.  So I turned around and drove back to Darrington and then over to Granite Falls and proceeded up the Mountain Loop via Verlot to Marten Creek.  There were multiple downed trees and power lines along the Mountain Loop Hwy between Granite Falls and Verlot.  I drove a few miles past Marten Creek to see when the snow began on the highway, and the Deer Creek gate was still open, with slush beginning on the road shortly after the gate.  Some large trees were also down on the highway, but it looked like vehicles could still squeeze by.

Marten Creek had a dusting of snow in the first mile increasing to 3-4 inches by the time the trail levels out  and turns north along the creek.  The old signs indicating the forestry research on different tree species from circa 1915 are still intact, and there was a newly-downed old-growth tree across the trail in the first 1/4 mile that revealed an old can of Schmidt beer where the roots had been.  This trail gives a good climbing workout in the first mile and a half or so over 7 or 8 wide switchbacks (on old road) and then levels out on a high bank above the creek before meeting up with it toward the end of the maintained portion.  Microspikes would have been helpful for the descent on the slushy switchbacks, which are steep in a few sections. Nobody on the trail today.

Update: Went out 22SEP22 and cleared beyond the river up two miles of the Pilot Ridge trail.  Photo link below.

15SEP22: Our primary objective for this day was to clear the fallen, blocking tree over the Pilot Ridge trail (#652), about a half mile above the river and 2.5 miles from the North Fork Sauk River trailhead (trail#649).  We departed the trailhead about 0900 and hiked to the river crossing where there are some logs to use if you wish to keep your feet dry.  There were four of us - two tried to cross on the rocks, and the two that ended up with dry feet used the logs.  There were several logs between the river and our primary objective that were easy to walk over so we left them for another day.  The diameter of the tree was about four feet, and took three cuts that kept us working until about 1810; a good, long day.  Some hikers, coming down from the Blue lakes area told us that there were some other trees down on the Pilot Ridge trail, but none as large as this and all easy to get over/around. 

Trail #649, from the trailhead to the river crossing, is in very good condition.  We ran into a Darrington Ranger District trail crew; and WTA crew that were getting work done over several days while camped by the trailhead.  Especially noticed was the new work on a turnpike that required many buckets of gravel.  Only Fall colors noticed was the Devils Club leaves turning their burnt yellow color.