Two night loop clockwise. Up Cady Ridge trail to camp at Lake Sally Ann night 1 - PCT over Dishpan Gap to Meander Meadow to camp night 2 - down and out via Little Wenatchee River trail. Other trail reports detail the highs and lows of this route, so just to add my take/some color.

Flora: There are some really gorgeous grassy meadows and neat sedges along Cady Ridge, and the low bush huckleberries are prime. Meander Meadow is spectacular. Again the grasses/sedges are delightful and look like lavender mist over the meadow as you descend, and along the trail and in the meadow tons of Cascade aster, bistort, fireweed, arnica, corn lily, paintbrush (red and whitish/light yellow), purple monkey flower, monk's hood, thistle, cow parsnip, small bluebells, lousewort, pearly everlasting, heather, elephant's head, spirea, bog gentian, goat's beard etc. etc. etc. And yes both devil's club and stinging nettle along Little Wenatchee trail.

Fauna: Saw a deer (buck?) grazing below Sally Ann at dusk. Lots of marmots everywhere, including the two cutest little marmots playing/chasing each other, hiding, and chirping to each other in Meander Meadow. Heard pikas, saw none. Fish in the Meader Meadow streams - my husband really hopes they are bull trout  A big old toad down Little Wenatchee trail and a garter snake sunning itself, too. Grouse being grouse. Bugs bad at times, buzzing and biting, but not too too terrible.

 Toilet talk: Contrary to the WTA description, there is a toilet at the Wenatchee Ford trailhead and it was clean and stocked. Toilet at Sally Ann is barely serviceable and be forewarned, in full view of at least two campsites and the trail. Toilet at Meander Meadow is fine... but why didn't they face it towards the view??? 

Other: There's a detour on the road to the trail head, just follow the signs, but it does seem to add a bit of time/mileage and feels like you're going the wrong way at times. Maybe 7 cars at the trailhead around 11 am on a Friday. There were probably a dozen tents at Sally Ann on Friday night, but it didn't feel crowded and good privacy between most sites. Mix of thru, section, and weekend hikers it seemed. There was only one other group at Meander Meadow on Saturday night. Traffic as you'd expect on the PCT on a beautiful Saturday in August, but on Cady Ridge and Little Wenatchee trails we only met one or two other groups. 

The views along this route are excellent. Once you get up on Cady Ridge and basically for the rest of the trip (until you're down on the Little Wenatchee trail) there's one after another after another. When you're grinding up Cady Ridge know that you will be rewarded. Glacier is stunning, as are all the other peaks in all directions. Meander Meadow is enchanting. Other reports detail the brushy-ness of Little Wenatchee and they're right. It's really brushy. I guess a redeeming factor was it was hot and my dew-soaked pants provided a little bit of natural AC. I am glad we did this trip clockwise, as the Cady Ridge trail was more interesting to me, and again a reward for the uphill slog endured for the first few miles. Also seems like the Cady Ridge downhill would be a little rougher on the knees than Little Wenatchee.

Enjoyed a two night - three day backpack starting at N. Fork Skykomish and exiting the W. Cady Ridge Trail. Short story: Berries, big trees, butterflies, birds, views, and lots of solitude. 

Road/Parking: Forest road in is washboarded in places, but we saw a sedan at the trailhead, so anyone can make it! Parking was almost full when we arrived before 1pm on a Friday. Toilet was clean and stocked. Parking lot was less full when we exited on Sunday afternoon.  

N. Fork Skykomish trail to Dishpan Gap (9 miles): the trail up the river is so mellow and well maintained, it was hard to believe we were gaining elevation. We only saw a couple of parties coming out and we kept stopping to eat all the berries, including the most giant salmonberries I've ever seen. I was nervous about the ford at 5 miles in...I overthought it. My partner did it by stepping on rocks. I put water shoes on, and did manage to slip in but it was all in good fun. There's a log crossing as well, if that's more your style. There was one tent at the campsite past the junction. At this point the trail takes a hard left and is marked by pink tags on trees. There's a few blowdowns but very easy to navigate. Water: we walked down a dry creek bed and found water about .5 miles before the gap because we were nervous about getting water for the night - we found it! And then crossed a creek about 1/3 mile before the gap, which probably won't be there in another few weeks. Campsites: There's not a lot of proper campsites to be had at the gap, we got one just off  the trail from the junction, but we looked off the PCT and many were not really proper sites and in meadows. Bugs were annoying in the evening, but not unbearable and completely disappeared after dark. 

Dishpan Gap to Benchmark Mountain Camp (9.5 miles): We stopped at Lake Sally Ann to filter water and to enjoy some Vaux swifts. There was some folks heading North on the PCT, all backpackers, but we had long stretches of solitude. The surrounding views of mountains are stunning here. Then we dropped down to Pass Creek, where we filtered water for the rest of our trip - this was necessary as there is no water (besides a trickle of a creek) and muddy tarns for the rest of the hike (note 10 miles, so we carried a lot of water!). There's ample tent sites here and a toilet. We turned off on the west cady ridge trail and saw no one until we reached camp. Campsites: we planned to camp at benchmark mountain. We saw the "mountain from the trail" and tried to take a social trail up...it went nowhere. We lucked out when we went to the trail marked on the map (you will be well past the mountain if coming from the east). Just off the trail there are a few tent sites - we met some nice folks who were setting up camp and showed us where the other tent sites were. That evening we made our way up the mountain (a 1/2 mile trail) and there is one proper tent site at the top, albeit very exposed. There are berries everywhere and we enjoyed. The views of Glacier Peak and the surrounds are top notch. Bugs were a little annoying but not bad. 

Benchmark Mountain - West Cady Ridge Trail - trailhead (6.6 miles): We woke to fog and the mountains around were shrouded. We enjoyed more berries and wildflowers on our way out. The W Cady Ridge Trail is very rocky and in a gully for some parts, until the last few miles, which are in beautiful forest. There are at least seven blowdowns on this portion, all are navigated easily by under/over or around. We only saw two trail runners and a day hiker making their way in. Water: There's some streams in the last couple of miles, but otherwise this stretch is completely dry except for some muddy tarns about 1 mile west of Benchmark. We saw and heard lots of birds on the way out including a western tanager and evening grosbeak. 

We had a nice time making a quick loop from Dishpan Gap to Cady Pass and back down this weekend. We did White Pass two weeks ago and enjoyed that this was a much easier grade up to the PCT! Our itinerary:

• Day 1: North Fork Skykomish trailhead to junction with Pass Creek Junction
• Day 2: North Fork Skykomish trail to Dishpan Gap, continuing to Cady Pass via PCT, camping at Pass Creek Trail / PCT Junction
• Day 3: Back to TH via Pass Creek Trail and North Fork Skykomish

Some brief notes:

• The best part of these trails is the solitude! We saw few other hikers, particularly when we were off the PCT. 
• Tons of bear scat on the N. Fork trail - be prepared to store food properly at those camps. We did not observe bear scat on the PCT. 
• Bugs are pretty nuclear. We spent most of our afternoon and evening on night two in our tent avoiding nickel-sized mosquitos.
• There are some down trees, especially on the Pass Creek trail, but they are not terrible.
• Water availability on the PCT is currently pretty good but I wouldn't expect many of the seasonal streams to last more than a few more weeks.
• Huckleberries are still coming in. There are some bushes with berries that appear ripe along the N. Fork Skykomish trail but they are unfortunately quite tart.

Last note, the WTA website may be slightly out of date in that the Index Galena Road is open again. This road is paved all the way to the FS 63/65 junction, is a pleasant drive, and gets you off US 2 earlier if you're coming from the west.

Happy to answer questions in the comments!

Someone mentioned on another review as such "it was the best of trails, it was the worst of trails" and that could not be more true of this anti-clockwise loop (LWF - Meander Meadow - Kodak Peak - Cady Ridge - return to LWF). 

The road to Little Wenatchee Ford Trailhead is quite a journey, thanks in part to an unexpected detour in the late hours on Friday, July 5.  The way was rough at times, but passable by most vehicles with extreme care toward the end of the road.  I was thankful for my higher clearance vehicle, and still managed to bang up the undercarriage at one point.  Upon arrival, we became at least the 7th or 8th vehicle in the lot, and still there was space for a few more.  Pit toilet was out of service, sadly.  We car camped here for the night.

We set off on the Little Wenatchee Trail on Saturday morning, loaded up for an overnight at Lake Sally Ann.  This trail was a DOOZY.  Overgrown is an understatement.  We are familiar with most regions around here and have sampled them all, with this one exception.  With that said, our primary error was assuming wearing shorts would be a good idea.  Dear Reader, it was not.  The overgrowth was consuming my 5' 7" at many points.  The stinging nettle and devil's club were two plants that I could have done without encountering with bare legs.  The bugs were relentless, though Bullfrog with SPF 50 did a decent job of deterring them.  Everytime we neared a stand of evergreens, I was thrilled at the prospect of reprieve from the overgrowth.  We were grateful when the elevation started climbing and we lost the bulk of the prickly/stingy plants, but you can look forward to about 5-6 miles of this nonsense.  There are blowdowns to negotiate and you should keep your eyes down to ensure you are not about to trip an fall face-first into nettles, as the trail is obscured quite often.  Upon reaching the meadows, we decided to eat breakfast, filter water, and have some coffee before carrying on.  Water source in the meadow is wonderful and flowing nicely at this time.  The meadow is gorgeous and the bugs were ridiculous of course.  

From here, we moved upward toward the PCT, with our next objective in sight - Kodak Peak.  Be sure to look back and admire the views of the river valley as you gradually climb.  The wildflowers are overwhelming and it is simply stunning up there.  Once we reached the junction, we turned South on the PCT and walked until the saddle, where Glacier Peak suddenly comes into full view.  Another stunner here!  There are a few campsites around to the east and west.  We dropped our packs and took the left hand trail toward Kodak Peak.  

The trail to the summit is generally a walk-up.  There are a few confusing offshoot trails, but they all eventually tie back together.  This was like a staircase to heaven with flowers and views.  Once at the summit, there is a nice flat spot for someone who plans ahead and brings their water for the evening to camp.  Even though the winds were consistent, we were mauled by mosquitoes.  These guys were out for blood and nothing was going to deter them.  We made it brief and moved on quickly.  That was the worst of the bugs for sure.  

We now only had to load our packs on our backs and backtrack North on the PCT to Lake Sally Ann, which was our camp for the night.  This has some ups and downs and is cruisy PCT sailing as one would expect.  There were few snowfields, lots of water/mud, and views.  Upon reaching Dishpan Gap, the trail moves to the west side of the mountain and there were several snow crossings that required a bit more care and trekking poles.  From Ward's Pass, the trail drops quite a bit in elevation and there were a few East/Northeast-facing snow-covered rocky areas to negotiate.  All were definitely crossable, but might become a bit dicey as the snow melts.  I found myself just moving as quickly and lightly as I could to hopefully avoid punching through.  After the junction with Cady Ridge Trail, you are in the home stretch to the lake.  The lake was mostly melted out, but lots of surrounding snow, which reduced the campsite options by quite a bit.  There were two others at the lake when we arrived and at least 6 more were added before the night was done.  The lake is beautiful and there are rainbow trout milling about in the clear water.  The soundtrack was provided by the waterfall, pikas sounding alarms, and many lovely birds: Varied Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, and what I presume are Violet-green swallows.  If anyone has any knowledge of the swallows in this area, I would love to know more.  These birds were so fun to watch in the morning.  They were skimming the water together in increasing numbers and flying in formation.  It was such a wonderful way to eat breakfast in the morning.  

After breaking camp, onward we hiked, back to the trailhead via the Cady Ridge Trail.  After the quick jaunt back to the South on the PCT, we turned right onto our next trail.  This section was absolutely stunning.  Glacier Peak is ever-present and now you start to simultaneously have all the Central Cascade heavy-hitters in view - even everyone's favorite volcano (my second favorite), Rainier.  This place must be a riot of color in the autumn and I would love to come back and take it all in!  The hiking is lovely, the views are breathtaking, and the geology is mesmerizing.  Open ridge hiking is something I could get used to.  A bit of in-n-out of the trees, wide open views, some interesting blowdowns, and suddenly you are headed essentially straight down the drainage.  My knees were quite relieved when we dropped down to about 3700 ft and we had some proper switchbacks.  A few more brushes with the overgrown river flora and we arrived back to the junction with the Little Wenatchee Ford trail.  Keep in mind that there is no reliable water between the PCT junction and the Little Wenatchee.  There were a few small trickles, but it's very swampy and earthy.  We will be back, but not via the Little Wenatchee Trail - haha!    

We started our trip on the 4th at the Little Wenatchee Ford Trailhead. We arrived around 10am and got the last "real" parking spot. There was a detour in the forest road approaching the trailhead, and the road in general was rough in a hatchback, but doable. The restroom was closed (needs maintenance). 

The fork to turn onto Cady Ridge has a sign knocked down really early on, but the trail is otherwise easily navigable, just quite the climb in the first couple miles. Also, we forgot bug spray, so the mosquitoes were awful in the first mile or so. No good water sources along the way, so bring enough to last. The snow is melting rapidly, but there was still a bit on the ground. The wildflowers were so fun!

Lake Sally Ann had plenty of campsites when we arrived around 4:30 and we actually only had three parties that night. The next night there were about 5 groups. Some signage is broken/pushed over by snow. Lots of mosquitoes when the wind was calm. The vault toilet is clean but the construction is rickety and needs maintenance. The lake is almost completely melted and beautiful! 

We came down the PCT and then Cady Creek trail which I would not recommend to anyone until a maintenance crew can come through. The PCT section was amazing, but as soon as you split off, it was not fun. There were 15 or so trees down, sometimes lengthwise over the overgrown trail, making navigation impossible. We would not have made it without downloaded maps. Sometimes you found the trail by where your feet felt the least plant resistance. We also saw three piles of bear scat and fresh tracks but thankfully no live sightings. Next time, I would have skipped the loop and gone for Cady Ridge again.