This is the about the fourth time we have done this hike in the winter months, and we have never encountered a soul. The forest is a delightful fairy-land of moss carpets and ferns, and the path is nearly flat. Only the last 200 yards or so, just before the boot trail comes out at river's edge, is a little dicey because of the thick brush. Up until this point, the trail is easy enough for beginner hikers and young children. At about 2 miles the path diverges: the left goes to the new trail re-route that WTA has under construction due to a trail wash-out (but is not yet finished so doesn't lead to anywhere yet) and the right goes to the river bank but is not an official trail. Just persevere on the right-hand track ahead and toward the river and you will reach a lovely stopping point at river's edge with access to a few small rocky and sandy river beaches. We were lucky enought to sight a bald eagle overhead flying along the river. We generally pair this trail with the Beaver Lake trail (the trailhead is literally right across the Mountain Loop Highway from where you turn for the White Chuck Bench trail) which makes for about a 7 mile generally snow-free day in the winter.

**The White Chuck River #643 trail was removed from WTA database, and all trip reports previously titled as such have been re-titled as White Chuck Bench.** THIS TRIP REPORT DOES NOT INCLUDE "WHITE CHUCK BENCH".

Sept 9-13 loop with cross country sections. Side trip to Kennedy Peak. Mountain-biked up 5 miles of abandoned White Chuck Rd #23 to trailhead White Chuck River #643. Not a bad bike trip even with full packs, a few logs and multiple stream crossings to walk the bike over/through. Bike only saved a little time up, but worth it for the descent. White Chuck trail is in good shape (for an unmaintained trail) for 1.4 miles to the junction (still signed) with Meadow Mountain #657. There are multiple logs across the trail but all passable. One 50-foot section has slid and has a 5-foot drop. Fire Creek bridge just before jct is still intact. The first 100 yards of Meadow Mtn trail is hard to follow due to many logs across, but then becomes good but low traffic. Climbs and switchbacks for 0.9 miles then crosses a big flat for 1.2 miles. Climbs again for 0.7 to an old trailside campsite with a spring by a rotting bridge. Get water here (or at nearby Fire Creek if spring is too low) as there is none until PCT. At this point we left the Meadow Mtn trail and headed straight uphill/south to the ridgetop and followed this ridge east to the PCT via point 5779 (2.5 mi XC). It's a defined ridge and easy to follow. Headed south on PCT 1.3 mi and camped above the trail near head of Pumice Creek. This part of PCT hasn't had much maint in recent years - brushy, narrow and a few logs. Thursday 9/11 we day-hiked up to Kennedy Peak by heading up to the saddle above the head of Pumice Creek and south following the ridge along the edge of Ptarmigan Glacier. Didn't quite summit Kennedy because we approached from NE and ran into vertical rock only about 50 feet below summit. The west side looked to be loose talus from below but would have been the better choice, but now it was time to head down. Retraced our up route part way down, then headed down Glacier Ridge to PCT and north back to camp. 5.7 miles. Friday, north on PCT 4.5 miles from Pumice Creek to Fire Creek Pass. Not quite the condition i expected for PCT but still in good shape. Left trail at the Pass and followed the ridge to saddle west of point 6326, then dropped SW to begin traverse to Fire Mountain. Looking back from this point, it would have been easier travel to just drop right from FC Pass, but our route gave some good views of Mica Lake. Traversed 2.3 miles at about 6200 ft west to Fire Mountain summit. From the summit we headed south staying just east of the ridge leading off the summit to avoid a rock outcrop. At 6000 ft we turned west and crossed the ridge and dropped into the basin at 5300 ft, where we picked up the Meadow Mtn trail (1.2 mi from summit) and found much needed water. Followed trail down 2.6 miles to trailside spring camp mentioned earlier. This section of trail gets very little use, but nearly all of it was easy to follow even by headlamp the last mile. Small trees are taking root in the trail, logs across, some brush, lots of small branches. Hard to follow for 200 feet through some huckleberry at about 5200 ft. A switchback at 4000 ft is on the edge of a vine maple patch and easy to miss (if you end up thrashing through vm you missed it!). Where it crosses Fire Creek there is a log that almost spans the creek, looks like a stringer from an old collapsed bridge. On the south side of Fire Creek, lots of logs across down to the spring camp. Saturday back out the way we came in via Meadow Mtn and White Chuck. Epic trip!

If you are wondering why you should sponsor a hikeathoner, here is a trail that is being constructed by WTA volunteers. It is not finished...yet. I wanted to show my husband what I do on work parties, and also to hike leisurely w/o a grub hoe. We started on the official TH, not the sekrit volunteer shortcut we used. It is the remnant of the old trail that followed the White Chuck river and led to the old defunct White Chuck road. Right now, it really doesn't go anywhere. Start high above the river and hike thru nice open old second growth forest. Occasional views can be seen thru the breaks in the trees. The old trail crosses an old well built bridge and gets brushy. Eventually it turns and new trail begins. When you see the new switchbacks, that's the end... for now. Help finish this trail and others by sponsoring this hikeathoner: Here is my hikeathon link: http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1468&AID=2791&PID=446732 I posted pictures of the new trail construction. You can hike about 2 miles right now.

Spectacular lakes, meadows and peaks at a spectacular price. You need strong legs, good trail-spotting experience and a little faith to go here. The various campsites range from pretty good to incredibly good. The trail is not well used; we only encountered four other groups in the four days we spent there. It seems that it once was much more popular than currently. In some places the tread is deeply worn, but plants are beginning to reclaim others. At Lake Byrne, the little signs that tell you to keep off an area for soil restoration have actually worked! (Never seen that anywhere else.) My guess is that the closure of the White Chuck R road, the washout of the bridge and extensive trail destruction in the Kennedy Hot Springs area have made this place a lot harder to get to than it was. Much snow on the trail, but with a little care it can be negotiated, and in a week it will be even easier. Bugs were not aggressive except at Camp Lake. We started Tuesday afternoon and climbed to Round Lake to spend the night. That was plenty of work for half a day. After a late start Wednesday, continued east on the ridge. We were surprised to meet a group of three who had come up from the White Chuck River. (See trail details below for their comments.) Wednesday camp at Byrne Lake. Thursday walked back a mile or so to Camp Lake. The camps are not quite so nice as Byrne, but we wanted to reduce the amount of work to do the next day. At 10:30 pm three headlamped hikers came through our camp. They said a ranger at Darrington Station had told them they could get to the PCT this way, but apparently didn’t mention the EXTREME difficulty of doing it (see below.) They insisted they had to meet a friend who was on the PCT without a tent or sleeping bag. (I didn’t say, “You gotta be kidding.”) They had only a vague idea where they were, or of the geography of the area. I showed them my map (and didn’t ask if they had one, or a compass.) They gave the impression they hadn’t read any trail reports or done any research other than talk to the ranger. Did my best to persuade them there was no way they could get all the way there at night, and they left, I hope to camp at Byrne and start in the morning. We walked out Friday. Near-perfect weather. Clouds rolled in during the evening and cleared during the night. DETAILS: TH to Round Lake Junction: Up, up, up for 3500 feet. Mostly good trail with about 20 blowdowns that are easy to climb over or around. One log must be crawled under. Round Lk: 5-6 nice camps, box toilet in good shape with a fine view. The descent into the basin is about 500 feet vertical and often steep, often poor tread. Junction to Hardtack Lk: This trail shows every sign of originating as a boot trail that somebody dignified with a number and a line on the map. Rough and hard on the legs. The trail is often half overgrown, but never completely. So with a little care, route finding is not difficult, and you never spend more than a few minutes perplexed. There’s a lot of steep up-and-down that isn’t obvious from the topo map. Don’t think that the elevation gain is negligable. Amazing meadows, several camps scattered between ¾ and 1-1/2 miles from the junction. Lots of water available now, but when the snow is gone, there will only be one or two streams (I think.) Sunup Lk: a small alpine lake at 5700 feet in a rocky basin with gorgeous view of Sloan Pk and 1 or 2 camps. The trail leaves the main trail at a small camp, about ¾ mi east of Round Lk junction. Hardtack Lk: one good camp at outlet stream, at least one above, possibility for several tents in the meadow. Camp Lk: one nice but exposed site near outlet stream, other possibilities still under snow. Snow-bergs still on the lake. Byrne Lk: 3 good camps, box toilet demolished :( Awesome view of Glacier Pk. The basin is mostly rocky, and lake now about half covered with snow-bergs. It looks like a picture of Iceland. Byrne to the White Chuck R: We did not hike this, but met a trio that had come up. Their advice was, “You don’t want to go there.” Parts of the trail have been destroyed, so are now a bushwhack. (Lots of destruction on the east side of the White Chuck, too.) White Chuck crossing near former Kennedy Hot Spr: No bridge. We did not see this, but the same trio had searched an hour and a half for a way to cross. Obviously possible, since they did it, but very difficult.

Access: If coming from the Darrington side of the Mountain Loop Highway, expect a few delays coming through the slide zone on Highway 530. Wait time was only a few minutes, but there are some August dates when drivers will be detoured, so it would be a good idea to check the WSDOT website beforehand. The Mountain Loop Highway and gravel Forest Road 22 are both in fine shape. Trail Conditions: The trail is passable to about 2.5 miles in where trail work is evident in the building of switchbacks up a steep hillside. Right after the switchbacks the trail ends, though it will be extended as trail work continues. Of those 2.5 miles, the middle third is pretty brushy, and I ran into some stinging nettles. I would recommend long pants. Other than that, the trail was in good shape with minimal elevation gain. Flora and Fauna: Quite a few varieties of mushrooms and fungi were along the trail, so I imagine this would be a mushrooming hot-spot come fall. Lots of old-growth tree stumps give evidence of the type of forest this used to be. Moss carpets most of the forest, as well. Views: Views of the White Chuck River and surrounding mountains are limited. Though you can hear the river most of the way, there's only really one good spot to view it. There's also one good view of Sloan Peak through the trees, but other than that the forest blocks the views.