I hiked the American Ridge trail from the American Ridge trail-head near the beginning of the Bumping River Road. The first 2 miles or so go steeply upward until you make it to an open area along the spine of the ridge proper (~4500') with magnificent views of Nelson Ridge across the Bumping River valley. There were ~40 trees across the trail to this point and no snow. All easy to walk around though some will give folks on horseback trouble. I imagine most people turn around at this point as beyond here the trail is less well trod. From the viewpoint the trail drops down to ~4200' at Fifes creek over the course of a mile. It occasionally becomes mixed up with deer trails and can be hard to follow. By the time I reached Fifes creek I was route finding in 1-3' of continuous snow. I decided not to waste my day post-holing and instead headed straight up the snow free hillside until I reached the crest of the ridge which I followed SW until I reached a high point marked on my map as 5492'. The ridge had snow in spots at this elevation but never very deep. From point 5492' I could see Goat Peak and the drainage below it which still had a lot of deep looking snow. I was quite glad I had turned around instead of trying to follow the trail beyond Fifes creek. The NW face of the American Ridge and Nelson Ridge both had deep snow that probably won't melt out completely for a few months. No other cars in the parking area when I started around noon or when I came back. Didn't see anyone all day in fact. Strange for such a gorgeous Sunday. There are a few wild-flowers blooming in spots but I think it's still too early for most. No mosquitoes or flys but I must have brushed 50 ticks off myself today.

American Ridge was the perfect hike to start spring off, 10 minutes into the hike you run across a pond with the sounds of hundreds of frogs riveting. The trail isn't the widest in the world but it did the job. We ran into a couple of areas with blown down trees and some snow covered patches were the trail vanishes underneath. There is a couple of areas with breath taking views and a couple that just take your breath away from the accent (the couple of short cuts we tried to take). If you like feeling like your on top of the world this is the hike for you.

I am surprised to find no other trip reports on the entire length of the American Ridge Trail, because it's an awesome hike. First off, I found the trail to be physically more difficult than I imagined. There are lots of ups and downs, sometimes a bit steep. Add difficult terrain to climbing over fallen logs and times trying to find where the trail is at, and I began to feel exhausted at times. Second, I never saw another hiker, except when I was near the junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (and this was a blue sky weekend). A note about water: The green trails map shows the trail, after about 5 miles from the TH, that the trail gets near Fifes Creek, which the map shows as a blue line with some broken dots, suggesting it may be seasonal or dry at times. I was happy to find water in the creek. Actually, when I first heard water I left the trail and tramped over to the creek to fill up. Then 3 minutes down the trail there is a spring on the right with water running under the trail. As the trail climbs up to point 6,946 (going west bound), the highpoint of the hike, that the trail spits multiple times, either an assortment of game trails or years of backpacker boots creating dozens of "social trails." It was hard to decide which is the right trail. It's not a big problem, in due time you find you're self climbing to the highest knoll (and it's more confusing for those going down). But once you reach the top there is an awesome view of Rainier. I took the side trail to Cougar Lake and back, then continued on to the PCT junction for my turn-around point.

I’ve long been enticed by the dramatic views of American Ridge heading 20 miles east from the Chinook Pass area. Four years ago in early August I started from the east end, ascending Goat Peak, but was forced out by deepening snow when I got to Kettle Creek. I thought that I’d have to wait until September in some future year to make it all the way to the PCT. Not this year. So I decided to use a two day window to squeeze in the final stretch of American Ridge by hiking up Mesatchee Creek, then west on American Ridge to camp at American Lake, then north on the PCT to Dewey Lake, then back on the Dewey Lake trail. This parallels the American River, to complete the loop. Except that the map showed that I could easily reach the high point of American Ridge by taking a side trip 2 miles east, a fine opportunity for this last day of forecasted warm and sunny weather. Well, there were some complications. First note that from the trailhead a half mile off 410 the trail is on an old roadbed that unexpectedly meets a windy and narrow dirt road coming from above after the first half mile. This active road merges with the old road / trail for a couple of hundred yards before veering off uphill again, with a large, informal car campground on your left. Go straight to keep on the trail, past a badly mangled trail sign post. In another half mile the old road ends and you turn left and cross Morse Creek on a nice log bridge. In another couple hundred yards you cross the American River, either on the nearest log (if you’re sure footed) or by wading. Soon you reach the terminus of the Dewey Lake trail – the end of my loop trip. The Mesatchee trail turns out to be a beautifully graded ascent through a pleasant dry side forest of smallish trees crossed by many streams. Used by horses but not too much. About 20 small trees across the trail, from the start at 3600’ to the American Ridge trail junction at 5800’. There are also several nice campsites, and it’s not too hot if you get an early start. Dropping my pack and heading east on the American Ridge trail, all seemed normal until I found myself on a steep downhill, going straight down with no switchbacks. Soon there was an equally steep and even longer slog straight up the ridge, more frequented by elk than humans. I began to realize that this was more like a primitive way trail than a carefully designed, built, and maintained forest trail. And part way into the “Big Basin”, which I came to call “Elk Heaven”, the trail totally disappeared altogether. Unable to see where the trail resumed on the other side, I decided to check my Green Trails map in conjunction with my watch altimeter, which I’d just reset at the 5800’ trial junction. This suggested that I should aim higher, but I saw no sign of the trail on the far hillside and just kept traversing at what was supposed to be the correct elevation until I spotted the trail far below, rising to where I met it just beyond a little col. From this 6500’ col I could see the trail go straight up it’s longest and steepest hill yet. What with elk trails, it wasn’t clear which way to go when I got near the ridge top. Again I ended going a little too high before traversing east. Fortunately, I got back onto the trail just where it crosses the ridge, well marked by a big rock cairn. The flat summit is just an easy 100 yards uphill, a very pleasant spot with an interesting variety of non-biting flies. Supposedly you can see forever from here, but today, despite full sun, smoke obscured all views beyond Mt Rainier and the nearest ridges. It seemed likely that the trail east from this 6946’ high point could also be sketchy and steep in places. It drops well below the cliffy ramparts to the east, which seemed to be just slightly higher.. On the way back I easily stayed on the trail, arranging logs and branches at the missed junction at the top of the long, steep slope and building two small rock cairns in Elk Heaven basin. Turns out that I should have gone down 100’ in elevation, not up, and into a grove of trees, where there is a very large and well hidden campsite, presumably for elk hunters in the fall. Heading west from the Mesatchee Creek trial junction, the American Ridge trail is very good – a gentle stroll through meadows and forests on the broad ridge top. Eventually the Swamp Creek trail merges from the left at fine meadow around 5000’ and shortly the unmarked side trail to Cougar Lakes continues straight just after a bridge (sharp right for the main trail). I noted that my Green Trails map had another big error here, showing 0.6 miles to this turnoff, instead of about 0.1 mile. American Lake has several good campsites, though some are “under restoration”, with wonderfully warm water for swimming and a nice wading spot on a tiny peninsula. I got spring water from a stream entering on the opposite side of the lake. It was a short and easy walk to the PCT the next morning. Heading north I met my first person of the trip, Tom, who was hiking from Snoqualmie Pass to White Pass, the same trip I’d done in 2006 as a hike-n-bike-n-bus. About my age, he seemed quite comfortable and easy going on the trail, and knew how to pack light. Then he said that he’d been one of the first PCT thru hikers in 1973, only 3 years behind Eric Rybeck, before some portions of the current PCT were even finished. Having finished section hiking the PCT myself in 2013, I felt that PCT comradeship returning. Then Tom showed me that the blueberries were already ripening up here on the crest, where it was damper, with fog sometimes rolling in from the west. There were mosquitos at Dewey Lake, so I hurried on after taking an unexpected picture of the summit of Mt Rainier through the gap between impressive Dewey Peak, which I’d just passed and Naches Peak, which lay between here and Chinook Pass. Before long dark clouds formed overhead and I pulled out my poncho to hike through a rain shower, probably the first in many weeks. The long trail back was in good shape except I did a lot of clearing of branches and other debris still there from last winter. Not seeing a log, I waded the one crossing of the American River. A couple of miles from the end I met and father and son hiking up to Dewey Lake to go fishing, instead of the horsemen I’d expected. But there was a high-end pickup and horse trailer in the parking lot. All-in-all, a great overnight loop trip. With more time, I would’ve added a side trip to Cougar Lakes.

Beautiful hike-- lots of great waterfalls. We arrived very early Monday morning so we could get in and out before the crowds. Hiked it in 4 hrs. which was a fast pace for us.