I went for a short trail run and left my phone on top of my car when I left. If anyone has seen an Iphone SE with a gray case, please contact me at nikaga6@gmail.com. Thank you!!

This is my second backpacking trip with my 11-year-old lab border collie mix this summer.  I've been looking for trails with lots of shade, water access, and not much elevation gain, so the North Sauk Trail was a good fit.  Arrived at the trailhead a little before 11 on Friday.  The road in was rough: potholes and two spots where water had strewn rocks across the roadway.  I drive a 2WD VW Golf and going slow I made it there and back fine.  Negotiating the potholes and avoiding the rocks did take some time though: I would not recommend this as a day hike unless you have a higher clearance vehicle or really enjoy driving on rough roads.

Trailhead parking lot was mostly full but didn't see many people on the trail, as there are lots of trip options that depart from there.  The forest is splendid - words and photos don't do it justice, the magnificent old-growth cedars and firs and giant skunk cabbage and devils club in the understory.  I am glad my dog is a slow hiker and stops a lot to sniff, as it gave me the chance to admire this magical place.  There are also plenty of spots to get water along this stretch of the trail.

My plan was to camp somewhere in the valley, after seeing the campsites near Red Creek, I decided to continue to the Mackinaw Shelter, which according to Alltrails is 6.3 miles from the trailhead.  Though the shelter has collapsed, this location offers some excellent campsites not far from the North Fork Sauk for those who still want to experience this wild place but are not able to access the high country.  We camped here for two nights, there were some black flies during the day and mosquitos in the evening but nothing too bad. 

On our second day, my dog and I went about a third of the way up to White Pass.  The switchbacks are relentless but soon views of the valley open up and the trail passes through some flower gardens with tiger lilly and paintbrush currently in bloom.  We ran into a few hikers heading up to climb Glacier Peak or spend a day or two in the high country.

Our return trip to the trailhead today was made much easier by the work of a crew that had brushed out the overgrown sections of the trail!  The North Sauk trail is in great shape and the crew told me they were off to remove the large log obstructing the tread between Red Creek and Mackinaw.  Thank you for your hard work making these wild places easier to access!

Lost/Left at Trailhead: Gray dog cable
We tethered our dog to a tree using our plastic covered wire cable near the trailhead parking lot bathroom, and accidentally left it there. We live near Fremont, Seattle. If anyone finds it and is willing to return it, I’d greatly appreciate it! Please comment here to get in touch.

Trip Report:
We hiked to the bridge before the climb to Mackinaw Shelter. At 3:00 the campsite tucked away in the woods by the bridge was open, and the spots slightly earlier on the trail near the pit toilet were being occupied by a group camp. The hike to those spots/the bridge was actually about 5 miles not 4 like the trail description says. The trail rolled up and down but kept the elevation gain to a minimum, and was in good condition. Plenty of streams to get water from along the way, and one creek crossing by strategically-placed log pile, trekking poles were handy. Trailhead parking lot was quite full, but we didn’t see many people on trail.

I drove out to the North Fork Sauk River TH and hiked up to White Pass for an overnighter.  The trail is melted out all the way to White Pass, with only a few minor snowfields to cross at some of the creeks and avalanche chutes above 5800'.  Some of the snow crossings require a bit of off-trail scrambling to get across; precarious if you are wearing a full pack.  I kicked new, deep footholds in some of the crossings, but the rapid melt may have already erased them.  There are several new blowdowns along the trail and up the switchbacks.  All can be avoided without too much difficulty, and I suspect they may be one of the targets of the work parties planned for this area in August.

White Pass is gorgeous as usual, and probably 75-80% snow free.  Glacier lilies and marigolds abound.  About half of the proper campsites below the ridge are melted out.  The old ridge camps are melted, but there is no camping allowed on the ridge.  Please use these sites only for short breaks.  I only saw two people at the pass, but the crowds will be on their way as the snow continues to melt.  The sun shone warmly all day but as night fell the clouds rolled in.  I bivvyed in a clump of hemlocks below the ridge and enjoyed a typical White Pass night: driving wind and pouring rain with thick clouds and visibility down to around 10 feet.  Glacier Peak generates its own local weather, and it seems to be a somewhat bi-polar mountain, so be prepared for sudden 'mood' swings.

The next morning I packed up my damp camp and headed south on the PCT to scout the area's snow situation.  There is still a lot of white stuff to cross heading toward Dishpan Gap.  For a few miles the snowfields are not too steep and the PCT is about 50% melted, but after rounding Kodak Mt. I ran into snow that was way too steep to cross without an ice axe.  For those thinking about doing the White Pass/Pilot Ridge Loop, it's going to be at least another few weeks.  If you want to go right now, you will need to go full mountaineer with proper skills and equipment.

I turned around and hiked back to the ol' gas wagon, passing several parties heading in to climb Glacier for the 4th of July.  Ripe salmonberries and lots of flowers on the lower trail including bunchberry, salmonberry, columbine, starflowers, shooting stars, saprophytic orchids, fairybells, fawn lilles, and Queen's cup.

"Just then grandfather came out.  He was upset because Peter had gone into the meadow.  "It's a dangerous place!  If a wolf should come out of the forest, then what would you do?"  But Peter paid no attention to his grandfather's words.  Boys like him are not afraid of wolves."

-Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf" 1936

Amazing old growth trees. Potholes, creek, and dry river bed road areas would be best in a vehicle with more clearance. 

Snow was deeper than 2ft, postholing past the knees long before Red Creek. 

Otherwise, the many expected big blowdowns normal for this time of year are not easy to cross. Many branches down make for tricky footing by the blowdowns. 

SUPER cool nurse log had a partial blowdown where the top of the nurselog ripped off. Hopefully if these trees are still living (sideways), they can be spared from chainsaws despite being across trail!