After being thwarted on our attempt at this trail, we got some good info from trip reporter Dan Fuller, including a few Gaia topos, so this follow-up is mostly just to post those with a few annotations, as good route info for this hike seems hard to come-by. I added notations to the first map, but am still uncertain on the exact location of the Neiderprum Cabin. From past trip reports and online searches, the cabin is reported to be at 3,200', 3,800', and 4,200'... so, ya. The latter is from a Karen Syke's article in the PI from October 2000 which will really confuse you for all the contradictory info from other stats: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Lone-Tree-Pass-Trail-doesn-t-beat-around-the-bush-1050796.php If anyone has better info, please say the word, and I can update that pointer, but for now, take that cabin site question mark seriously, as currently, that's just a guess.

Well, this is another We Didn't Make It report, and wondering if we missed that famous sharp right turn or were stopped before it? Armed with what little info was available from trip reports and grateful for that, we were looking for the landmarks offered by Geezerhiker and Craig Romano, but aren't sure we got that far. As reported, the Mine Trail from the TH and the initial switchbacks up the Neiderprum Trail are in great shape and sure enough steep -- I don't ever remember being able to do rest-steps on a trail that wasn't a snowfield... Eventually we got to a giant downed tree, looking like the one in Geezerhiker's May 2015 report, though this one had two big, foothold notches in it to make climbing over easier, so, don't know if it's the same. (Though thanks to whoever put those notches in -- very nice!) The trail got more serious after that, rooty, more vertical and rocky, and very soon we came to a loose, crumbly dirt/rock slide/avy chute maybe 20-30' wide. The trail cut across and up this chute, but when my dog, running a few paces ahead, slid downhill in the loose rocks and had a hard time regaining his balance, we stopped. The rock was loose -- unstable above and pause-worthy steep with no safe runout below. We figured we might make it across -- clearly others had -- but if something went bad, it'd be very bad, and coming downhill through there harder still. We explored the area immediately to the right wondering if this was the sharp right turn we should be looking for, and wished for a switchback right there, but the slope up was steeper than it looked, no flags were to be had, and we found a yellow-jacket's nest so opted to not explore further in that direction. Foiled! So... can anyone comment? Did we miss something, or does the trail indeed cross this chute, and there's another, bigger downed tree above, followed by the brushy slide area where the trail takes that sharp right? Also, does anyone know where the gated road to the right of the trailhead leads? The topo we'd printed from Alltrails for Neiderprum looks like it actually heads west from the TH as that road would, but that can't be right... Thanks for any info!

Todays hike was strenuous. This trail is not maintained at all. Lots of trees across the trail and lots of areas totally overgrown but you can still navigate around most of it. I decide to find a hike close to Darrington so I can also add several other things to my hike such as driving to the top of North Mountain and Checking out the Memorial to the Oso Landslide Victims. Getting back to this hike. As the write up says off Highway 530 take the Old Miner Road South on 378 Avenue Northeast for about one half mile until you get to the two barriers. One is a metal gate and the other boulders blocking the road. Park here out of the way so people can turn around. No pass required. The hike heads toward the boulders not the metal gate. Behind the boulders is a wooden bridge to crossover then the trail wonders along the creek for awhile. A big part of this trail is over grown badly but push your way thru and it will soon open up to an old forest road. This road has been closed for years so a lot of it has been taken back by vegetation. In about 1.25 miles you will see the sign on your right up on the tree for Neiderprum Trail. From here its up hill and I do mean up hill. There are switch backs but a lot of the trail is just straight up so it is step in spots. There are down trees all over this trail and you almost loose the trail from the vegetation in spots. I made it up to the Avalanche Chute where I took a long needed rest. I was not feeling good but started up thru the chute and slipped several times in very loose gravel because the trail is not level at all. I made a decision to turnaround here and go back down. I probably would have just went on if I was with someone but since there was no one else at the parking lot and no one on the trail I chose to play it safe since I wanted to get to North Mountain Fire Lookout also. I was about one quarter to one half mile short of the old cabin site and a flat area with nice views that I read about so if you hike this try to make it to that spot for some good views but make sure you are not alone going through the Avalanche Chute. The trail does proceed beyond that even but it is more of a mountaineering trail for those attempting to climb to the top of Whitehorse Mountain. The last several reports I read show lots of snow up above and it was obvious when I saw it from North Mountain which is just across the valley from it. I didn't make it too my destination but the trail was nice and there was lots of peace and quiet so I decided to do a video that you can watch that has no one talking all the way through it. You can just listen to the sound of nature around you. Checkout the video of this hike or over 350 other hikes I have done in Washington State on my youtube channel "lmm3181" or click on the direct link below for this hike. As always get out and see this beautiful state and enjoy your hiking!!! Take Care, Mike

We had been planning a Whitehorse summit climb yesterday, but after getting reports that the conditions on the summit were getting pretty technical with an open bergshrund, opted for a hike to High Pass to get beta for a future summit attempt. My first time experiencing the joys of this trail. All I can say is don't attempt this unless you are experienced with route finding and have a good route description or are fortunate enough to go with someone who already knows the route. The snow is consolidated enough that snowshoes are not needed and avalanches were not a concern, and was soft enough to not require crampons either. However I would recommend bringing crampons. We had a couple of good glissades on the way down from High Pass and from Lone Tree Pass. Ice axes are mandatory although in yesterday's snow conditions most of the trail was manageable without. From Lone Tree Pass to High Pass there are two route choices--a low route that loses about 1000' elevation and a high route that loses about 400'. We took the high route, following occasional bits of pink flagging and the memory of a member of our party. This saves some effort but is not easy to follow and has some exposed scrambly parts. It was a very long day of about 15 hours on the trail, including one prolonged stop to deal with a nasty arm laceration caused by falling on the steep trail while holding an ice axe. We were all carrying heavy packs of 30-35 pounds, because we brought climbing equipment along in case the summit looked feasible, and reasoned that this would at least be good for conditioning. This is not a trail you would want to do in the dark by headlamp, except maybe the lowest 2 miles. Except for the first bit, it is very rough, overgrown and steep. A beautiful day and trail. I look forwards to doing it again some year, with better conditions for a summit attempt. Doing the whole thing in a day requires a fit fast party and very early start. There is a good spot to camp above Lone Tree Pass. I was surprised to see a bunch of cars at the trailhead. One of the factors that made us decide to forgo the summit was that there was a line of climbers waiting their turn for the attempt. This surprised me as i had thought this was not a very popular trail. Still, most of the day we had the trail to ourselves.

so first time i did this trail did not know what to expect. there are no signs leading to trail, the road to it almost looks like private road, anyway the trail. The trail was very hard for sure, but to make it better there were about 5-8 large trees fallen on trail that you have to find a way around, trail is not maintained, so overgrown, sticks, bushes on the way, kind of lost trail for a minute to the top, if for some reason you are heading down its a nope, u are always suppose to go up. when got to the overlook the views were nice so decided to keep going. about 20 minutes after the overlook ( the road gets harder both elevation and condition) we hit snow and from there can not really go on, so i guess wait a bit longer if you wana go all the way.