Today was a good reminder to do our research before going on a hike. Our goal had been to get to Miner’s Ridge and Image Lake, accessing those through the Suiattle River Trail. Though our destinations were open the Suiattle River trail was not. Once we got over the wasted drive and our disappointment, we came up with a good plan B.

The North Fork of the Sauk River provided us with great access towards White Pass and the Glacier Peak area. Getting a late start, we decided to camp at the Makinaw Shelter, five-and-one-half miles from the trailhead. The shelter itself has long ago collapsed but the camping is good and access to water easy. The North Fork Sauk trail is a real thoroughfare (thank you WTA). Several miles of this trail miraculously escaped the buzz-saws of the twentieth century. Massive trees spoke to us of eons gone by.

Getting up early on day two we packed and departed early. The upper slopes of the ascent to White Pass are fully exposed to the sun so we wanted to beat the heat. Once again, a well graded trail made for quick work. Traverses of cliffy areas have been greatly improved lately. Wildflowers and screeching marmots were our constant friends. After 3000’ of gain the PCT is reached. Turning southward we were soon at White Pass. A short drop onto a broad bench led us to numerous tent site options. Water is not to be found near the tents so be sure to collect from one of several creeks along the PCT just north of White Pass.

After making camp and a brief lunch we headed out to explore with just light day packs. The Foam Creek trail is popularly used by those climbing Glacier Peak. This well graded trail ambles a bit less than two miles, traversing moss and flower studded drainages. Several short snow gullies needed to be crossed that might be difficult for some. We eventually turned around at a high point with dramatic Glacier Peak views. Returning to White Pass we head north on the PCT, chatting with through hikers on their way to Canada. Most are pretty honed by this point, one telling us that the remaining 150 miles would take him five days to complete. It seems almost a shame to blow through such beautiful country, laden with berries as it is, at such a clip. It is their trip though and I imagine at some point you just want to get it done.

We ate berries, and then ate more berries. We watched black bears a thousand feet below us snarfing up berries on the hillside. Cute marmots scarcely paid us any mind as they fattened up on the same berries. Our trial climbed to Red Pass. Narrow and rocky, with late afternoon winds picking up, we didn’t stay long. Below us the headwaters of the White Chuck River formed in an alpine basin, rustic, and desolate, with the primordial feel of a lost Alaskan drainage. I kept expecting caribou to descend off a high pass or to see an ambling grizzly digging for ground squirrels. None of that happened but we were not disappointed. Impressive glaciers like the Honeycomb and the Suiattle, pouring off Tenpeak Mountain, made me yearn for more days to tromp through this country.

Our turn around for this day was White Chuck Cinder Cone. An almost improbable mass of cinders, seemingly dumped from a wheelbarrow of godly proportions. Spare of any vegetation, but with first-class views of Glacier Peak. Some small, unnamed ponds live at it’s base, seemingly almost unsure of why they are there.

Late afternoon in this country can bring thunderstorms. High, dark clouds built, and bolts of lightening could be seen to the south. As we hustled southward to our camp a rush of afternoon through hikers scurried to get away from the ridgeline. No real rain ever happened, though we cleared camp at least once. Hiking out the following morning was a leisurely affair. Three thousand feet of descent passed quickly with the purple stained hands of the guilty.

 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. 

I went out with a group for a multi-day backpack up near White Pass.

A lot of different varieties are wildflowers are blooming along the way, a ton of birds and marmots were active along the ridge, and the trail is snow free up to just after White Pass.

There are multiple clear campsites at Red Creek, Mackinaw Shelter, and some clear campsites at White Pass.

Our group wandered over by White Mountain a bit over the past few days: there was a lot of snow which made the trail hard to find and was quite slippery.

We ran into a number of folks on the way up and down the trail: most of the folks were climbers/skiers, but there were also a large number of USFS trail workers, like the last trip reporter noted.

The trail up to White Pass was steep, hot, and exposed; we needed to drink a lot of water yesterday afternoon coming down to Mackinaw Shelter.

After seeing some trip reports from previous years about the Pilot Ridge trail, I decided to check out the trail on this day hike.  From Darrington I headed south on the Mountain Loop highway (also numbered Forest Road 20 once you leave Darrington).  At Forest Road 49, turn left and head east about 7 miles.  Turn left at the sign and travel about 1/8 mile to the trailhead.  From the trailhead I hiked 1.9 miles along the N. Fork Sauk trail.  The N. Fork Sauk trail sees a lot of hiker use because it is the primary access for mountain climbers headed for Glacier Peak.  Along the way I passed a U.S. Forest Service trail crew, who had done a ton of work cutting out trees that had fallen across the trail, and were currently working on improving the trail across a stream.  Even though there were no horse tracks, the section of the  N. Fork Sauk trail that I hiked is now passable for stock animals.

At the trail junction I turned right and traveled south a short distance to the log crossing over the N. Fork Sauk River.  The snow melt was so high the normal log crossing had water 1/3 of the way up the log.  Since one would have to butt scoot across the wet log, I didn't want to get my feet wet, so I went upstream and crossed the river on a jumble of logs that were higher above the water.

I hiked up the Pilot Ridge trail for two and a half hours, doing light trail clearing work along the way, at which point I turned around.  There is one 4 foot diameter log across the trail that needs attention some day (see photo), but one can crawl underneath it for now.

Found: On my way out, I found a hoodie in the trail around 2 miles from the trailhead, just upstream from the junction with the Pilot Ridge trail. If this is yours, reach out to me with identifying info (such as color, size, brand) and we can try to get it back to you. 

Main report (North Fork Sauk River Trail)

I wanted a low-elevation hike of decent length on Saturday to enjoy the gap in the heavy rains and avoid hitting snow too close to the car, and this trail met the criteria well. I turned around at 4400ft (approximately 7.25 mi from trailhead) just before the first creek crossing in the long climbing traverse, so I'm not certain what conditions look like beyond that.

Trail Conditions: The creek crossing at 1.25mi from the car is substantial especially with the recent heavy rains, and you'll want to find a good place to cross the rocks, likely using trekking poles for balance. That is the worst of the trail hazards I encountered, although there are certainly numerous small streams that flow or ooze down the trail as you continue upriver. There are also fair number of logs of various sizes across and/or along the trail, mostly between the major creek crossing at 1.25mi and the shelter site, although none required too much effort to either step on/over or take a small detour around.

Snow: While there are a few small snow patches along the river, I believe the snow starts in earnest near the first creek crossing in the long climbing traverse at around 4400ft (7mi from the car), where I turned around. 

Pilot Ridge trail: As a quick detour from my main hike, I took the junction down to the river to check the conditions of this trail. The approach to the river is brushy with head-height brush, and somewhat visible tread guiding the way. It appears that there are a pair of potentially slippery logs that could likely be used to cross the North Fork Sauk River, even in the high-flow spring melt that is currently underway. (See last picture)

Bugs: While there were a couple mosquitoes at the car and when I stopped for food at the Mackinaw shelter site, I never noticed them elsewhere, even while taking short breaks for hydration.