To summarize, I had 44 A+ hours sandwiched between 6 B+ hours and a final leg of 3 nasty D hours. So, I’d say a B+ trip overall.

- Quartz Creek to Curry Gap (4 mi; 1400 ft; 2 hours)
Nice amble in the woods where I met only a horse couple who warned me of the predator (probably a mountain lion, they said) that their horses were spooked by, and the totally overgrown, brush-filled, log-jammed trail from Curry Gap to Bald Eagle Mountain. All lies. They were also impressed with my bravery for not carrying a gun.

- Curry Gap to Bald Eagle/Long John ridge (3 mi; 1300 ft; 3+ hours)
Trail in great shape besides a few places where the meadow breaks brushed against my shoulders. Not a single log on the trail. Mosty dry. Trail goes in and out of meadow breaks and trees. Heavy pack; good spirits. Camped at a nice seasonal/melt tarn; no real wide view, but pleasant enough if it weren’t for the mosquitoes. Very happy that I brought my Hubba-Hubba with fly netting on all sides.

- Long John Ridge, June Mountain, Dishpan Gap, PCT/Cady Ridge Junction (9 mi; +/-500ft; 6 hours)
This was the highlight of the trip. Beautiful ridge walk; the kind we crave. Stunning views of Sloan, Glacier and surrounds; even a peak at Mt Baker. South to Alpine Lakes Peaks, Rainier. The trail stays high; goes right over the summit of June Mtn (the high point of the day – 6000). It was a mistake to skip camping at Blue Lake which I could see from June Mtn summit. Since the bugs chased me out of camp by 8am, I found myself at Ward’s Pass by 1:30. A little further toward Lake Sally Ann (on the PCT) and I was lucky to find a primo camp site. Perhaps the nicest campsite I’ve ever slept so close to major trails. Sleep there someday, it’s perfect; just below the PCT/Cady Pass trail junction. Cady Pass trail practically goes through the campsite, but that’s no bother, because the site has box seats for the Glacier Peak sunset show. From my tent, I watched the sunset and sunrise glow on the mountain. In the other direction I watched the half-moon set.

- PCT/Cady Ridge Junction to Cady Pass to Miserable West Cady Ridge Exit (15 mi; 2000 ft up/ 5500 ft down)
Hiking solo, I found myself breaking camp at sunrise. Then the early morning bugs chased me out of camp by 7:30am. From camp I took the PCT 6 miles South past Lake Sally Ann, Mt Skykomish, then down meadows, then treed switchbacks through Cady Pass to the West Cady Ridge trail. Nice walking and the views before the switchbacks were pretty. The WCR junction is near Saddle Gap, which I remember from our PCT trip as being a very beautiful narrow meadowed notch in the ridge. At this point, the mosquitoes were joined by fierce and hungry black flies. I had to keep moving. The 1400 ft climb from near Saddle Gap to the top of WCR was in full South facing heat. The bugs chased me out of any rest stops, so I arrived at Benchmark Mtn at 1:00pm and chatted with a Search/Rescue horse group already there. They gave me three bottles of cold beer. I drank one right away and packed the other two for my last night on the trip. After ditching my pack and climbing the last 300 ft to the top of Benchmark, I found a fantastic 360 view of the great Cascades, but no breeze, no shade and massive flies. Hmmm…nowhere else to go. I could sit in my tent until sunset, drink some beers, then pound down at sunrise. Or I get the abuse over with immediately. I chose the latter and started hiking down by 2pm. Along the way I noted that all the snowmelt ponds I had planned on drinking from that night had been stomped and fouled by horses. Remarkably, the beer had completely relaxed my aching muscles and staved off thirst and hunger. I made great time on aching feet through 4 inches of hoof stomped dust and horse dung. WCR is a dry and shitty affair; reminds me of Long, Long Ridge in the Olympics, only in reverse and much dustier and shittier. Totally dry and never ending. When the aching feet got loud, or I started to flag, I set my pack down, popped another bottle of Kirkland’s IPA or Amber. What followed was a strange combination of relaxation and “fuck this shit” confidence that made the hot, dirty, buggy, dry and miserable WCR kind of fade away. I limped into the trailhead parking lot about 5pm and drove home.

A good trip; not great. From all signs the summer is at least one month behind. The flowers, bugs and snow patches all attest. But the saddest evidence I saw was the state of the blueberries. In most places on the WCR – a well-known berry spot – the majority of fruit had not yet closed up from flower form. The ones that had were green and hard. Beware of hungry (or dead) bears next spring.

 Dishpan Gap Loop, 34 miles, 7226’ feet gain and 4 nights. This loop is mainly in the Henry M. Jackson wilderness.

We took the North Fork Skykomish River Road at the Index junction, off Hwy. 2, and arrived at the Quartz Creek-West Cady Ridge trail head in late afternoon. The trail begins in woods and gradually climbs to Curry Gap. There we found a campsite by the trail junction to Bald Eagle Mt., trail #650, with a spring nearby.

In the morning we headed toward Bald Eagle Mt. up steep switchbacks to ridge-top meadows, here the views begin. At 8.5 miles, just past Long John Mt., is a good campsite with a fresh running stream. At 11 miles is the trail junction to Blue Lake (no stock allowed). This side trip is well worth the effort. The view of Little Blue Lake and the bigger Blue Lake, from June Mt., doesn’t glimpse into the close-up beauty of these lakes. After a dip in the lake and a good nights sleep we hiked about 950’ feet, over the ridge, back to trail #650. On the ridge we had great views of Glacier Peak, Sloan Peak, Mt. Rainier and many more peaks. When we arrived at Dishpan Gap we took a side trip to Sauk Pass and beheld an exceptional view of Glacier Peak. After a bit of lunch we returned to the PCT and Lake Sally Ann where we settled into a fine hike-in camp ground (no stock allowed), at 16 miles. During the night we were awakened by a deer peaking into our tent.

The next day was short due to the morning rain and little motivation to leave our nice warm tent but we packed up when the rain stopped and hiked to Pass Creek at 20.6 miles and set up camp on a nice spot. Not long after, a PCT thru-hiker arrived heading south from BC. In the morning we shared coffee and stories then he headed off to Stevens Pass.

On our last day we took switchbacks up the PCT to the West Cady Ridge, trail #1054. At 23.5 miles is a short trail to the summit of Bench Mark Mt. with great views and a summit register. The camps on the ridge are plenty but the water comes from occasional tarns which are small and stale. We filled up with water at a stream right before Saddle Gap with the intention of hiking the 10 miles and 2176’ feet gain out.

I am always amazed at the awesome wilderness experience that can be had so close to home. This was a worth while backpack with views, wildlife, trails in great condition and, due to the low snow fall this year, not a bit of snow on the trail.