It was the best of weather, it was the worst of weather [on our backpacking trip to Basin Creek + Sahale Glacier camps]... 

ITINERARY

• Day 1: a (rainy) hike and (even rainier) overnight at Basin Creek camp.
• Day 2: a (beautifully sunny but holy cow steep) hike and (SUPER windy) overnight at Sahale Glacier.
• Day 3: the hike out (the windiest day hike I have ever done in my entire life oh my GOD it was so rough).

THE ROAD / PARKING

Cascade River Road should be fine for any car, though a rough drive. There's one particularly big pothole near the trailhead, so be aware. 

The lot wasn't even half full when we got there around 8:15 on Sunday; we were surprised, but we guessed it was because it was rainy. The lot was full when we got back to the car midday on Tuesday. 

The toilet at the trailhead is in good shape, though there was no toilet paper when I used it.  

DAY 1: CASCADE PASS + BASIN CREEK CAMP

This was our easiest hiking day, though we got pretty dumped on throughout the day and most of the night. From the trailhead to Cascade Pass is in great shape, just a couple of muddy spots near the pass. From Cascade Pass down to Pelton Basin camp was also in really good shape. 

Between Pelton Basin camp and Basin Creek camp, it got a bit overgrown; nothing too terrible, but enough to give us quite the carwash since it was rainy. Lots of switchbacks! 

The trail was pretty well-graded for most of the hike, save for a couple of pretty steep parts. 

Basin Creek camp is really lovely! All 3 campsites were huge and very flat, and 2 of them have a really good amount of privacy. The other 1 is really close to the cooking area, which has a few logs and rocks for sitting, as well as the bear box. The camp also has easy access to water, and the privy was quite nice as well. It was a really beautiful place to camp! 

DAY 2: CASCADE PASS + SAHALE GLACIER

This was the best weather we got by far, and the day with the most spectacular views, but MAN was it a hard hike. We got our butts absolutely pummeled by the climb up to the glacier with our packs on, especially since we were doing that climb at high noon. My Gaia track says it was a 4,300-foot climb over just under 6 miles, with more of the elevation concentrated past Cascade Pass. 

The trail up to the arm from Basin Creek camp is overall in really good shape, and is also usually an actual trail. Beyond that point, it’s a bit of a mess of boulder hopping and really steep rocky/dirt “trail,” occasionally at a practically vertical grade. 

That said, camping at Sahale Glacier was, unsurprisingly, awesome. We were the first backpackers to the glacier that day, getting there around 1:30, and snagged the campsite on the “second hump” from the sign, which we thought had the best views. But the campsites are all amazing and very spaced out, though they provide very little “privacy” since you’re out in the open; peeing is a spectator sport at this camp! We spent all afternoon and evening enjoying the view from camp. Sunset and sunrise were amazing. 

My partner went to explore the area around the glacier a little and said there was a pool of standing water you’d have to wade through to reach it. We could see many crevasses in the glacier as well, and heard/saw several instances of ice falls. 

Water from glacial runoff was in abundance around the campsites, so you don’t have to worry about water sources. No bear box, so don't forget to BYO bear canister. 

The composting toilet is easy to find if you can find the Sahale Glacier/toilet sign (near the camp at the tallest hump), and has epic views. (Just make sure to pee beforehand, as it says on the placard.)

DAY 3: CASCADE PASS + TRAILHEAD

When we woke up in the morning, we found that we were somehow now camping in Chicago because it was WINDY. CITY. 

We planned an early wake to watch the sunrise, and could barely stand up outside the tent without getting blown over. Packing up the tent is oftentimes a nice partner activity because we enjoy each other’s company and we can do it faster together. Packing up the tent this morning was a partner activity because we wanted to keep all parts of our tent; plus, it is difficult to Leave No Trace if our entire rain fly launches into the sky from 7,500 feet up. 

For the record, the sunrise was gorgeous; totally worth waking up early. The clouds were doing some interesting things, so it looked like they were on fire. We stayed through the sunrise, and then we decided it was time to GTFO of this wind. (We actually saw another group leave as the sunrise was happening, and we wondered if they, too, had decided it was time to GTFO of this wind.)

The hike down from the glacier to the arm was fairly treacherous at times, with how steep and windy it was, and the wind didn’t stop until we got down past Cascade Pass. Both my partner and I were getting shoved around by the wind, which made for difficult and slow hiking at times. I got a lot of dirt in my eyes. And my mouth. And my nose. (We learned from a day hiker on our way down that there was a red flag fire warning due to high winds, which surprised us absolutely NOT AT ALL.) 

We also lost the “trail” on our way down to the arm in the boulder field, though we found our way back. It helped to have the Gaia app on hand. 

All of that said, it was absolutely gorgeous! (At least, until we got to the arm. The arm until Cascade Pass was in a wild windy-vortex-mist-cloud thing, so we couldn’t see anything past the arm until we got to the pass. Day 3 was hard.) 

MISC. 

There were a surprising number of ripe blueberries around still on our way from Cascade Pass to Sahale Glacier, and there were tons between Cascade Pass and Pelton Basin camp. And they were good. But they are also clearly on their way out — every so often, I’d pick one that fell apart in my fingers and some bushes had only sad, shriveled berries.

I had hoped for some wildlife sightings on this hike, but we didn't get any mountain goats or bears. We did see several pikas and marmots, and a deer. 

Our first day was incredibly quiet, even though that was the only weekend day we were out (Sunday). We figured the rain kept folks at home, and we also sort of expected the trail between Cascade Pass and Basin Creek camp to be quieter as well (and we were right). Days 2 and 3 were much more lively. We had Basin Creek camp completely to ourselves (which surprised us) and we shared Sahale Glacier camp with 4 other parties (which did not surprise us).

This backpacking trip was RUTHLESS, partially due to the climb from Basin Creek camp to Sahale Glacier and partially due to the weather. We got much rain, the most insane winds I think I’ve ever hiked in, and that climb up to the glacier with a pack on was killer. It was brutal, it was beautiful, it was breathtaking (in so many ways). I am very humbled. 

Gorgeous but you pay for it with crowds. The last push to the glacier was some route finding and loose scree/rock which im not a fan of coming down. If you're afraid of heights like I am, hiking poles help get down this.

Shout out tho to ALL the trail staff and volunteers who built all the rock stairs, walkways, retaining wall and viewing seats at the pass! Oh heck ya I noticed! That's a lot of work and thank you!

TH: Parking lot was completely full and cars were parked along the road by 8AM. Bathrooms were stocked and fine in the morning but will need to bring your own tp for later in the day.

Trailhead to Glacier camp: it’s a very busy trail so it was easy to navigate and follow even when the trail webbed at the rocky section to the camp. The trail gets pretty steep at the Sahale Arm turn off and continues to stay steep. The glacier was stunning and the views from it spectacular!

Flora: no wildflowers but plenty of ripe berries!

Fauna: lots of active pikas, marmots, hawks, sparrows, ptarmigans, and ground squirrels

A wonderful challenging hike to fill the day with great views.

Arrived 6:30 am, parking lot was 80% full but we were able to get a spot. By the time we actually started hiking around 6:50 am, all official spots were full. Departing at 2 pm, parking lot was nearly impossible to get out of due to poorly parked cars. Pro tip: if you arrive early, don’t take one of the front spots (like I did), drive the circle and take one of the later spots so it’s easier to get out when you’re done.

The hike itself was wonderful as always, although no goats this time. We did see a deer pretty high up on the trail (past Cascade Pass) which was interesting.

Total mileage recorded (on Garmin watch): 12.74 mi. We touched the glacier!
Elevation gain recorded: 4,144 ft

Parking: Arrived at 8:40 am on a Thursday and there were just a few spots left in the lot. The lot was still ~ 1/2 full in the evening, mostly with folks planning to start early the next day.

TH: Vault toilets still had plenty of TP in the morning, but 1 out of the 2 dispensers was empty at the end of the day.

Crowds: Trail felt busy, but not like a conga line. Lots of 2-4 person groups hiking.

Time: Hiked with my 66 year old dad (he's got the endurance of a much younger person, IMO), so we took a couple breaks and the last 1/2 mi or so was pretty slow going because it's steep with rocky bits. Started around 9 am, summitted at 1:20 pm, spent ~ 90 min at the top eating lunch/climbing around to see the glacier, and finished the hike at 7:15 pm.

We did see a handful of people starting up the trail at 4-5 pm when we were on our way out. It's worth making extra sure you have 10 essentials for that kind of trip (especially water and headlamps). The Arm portion of the hike took longer than we expected.

Wildlife: No bears or goats, although we did see some goat scat on the rocks and snow near the glacier. Roughly a dozen grouse (including a male trying to woo a female), 6-8 marmots, lots of pikas and other small critters.

Other: Saw a helicopter with what looked like a ready-to-load litter landing on the arm when we were about 1/2-1 mi down. Assuming it was a SAR operation, although we hadn't seen anyone in distress on our hike.