Did this as an ambitious day hike. It was well worth it but a lot for a single day. This hike has everything! Fall colors, sweeping views, rocky peaks, meadows, lakes and so much more.  I highly recommend it.  I only saw two other people the whole 30 miles.  

Bears were within 20 yds of me on 3 different occasions between mile 10-20 because of the ripe berries. You should have some they’re good! The bears were large but timid and all ran off with me yelling.

Bring a GPS watch or offline map there’s a lot of unmarked intersecting trails. For example the hike description says there’s a sign to go down at mile 9 but the PCT is actually to the left there is no sign. The dishpan gap isn’t labeled either and the sign for Bald Eagle/Blue Lakes is a little vague. The blue lake high route has no sign or it’s hidden and is a bit overgrown at the turnoff.

The pilot ridge segment from about 23-30 miles has a lot of fallen trees. The route down at the end is in bad shape with lots of erosion, overgrowth and fallen trees everywhere or bridges that have rotted into the ground.

Road has a lot of potholes but is not impassable with a standard car as long as you don’t rally through it.

I would definitely do this again but as an overnight instead.

The smoke wasn't so bad, but my lungs felt it then next day. 

This hike is on the ancestral lands of the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe.

This was a really enjoyable trip, taking 3 days to do the loop. Fall foliage was out in force, with lots of ripe blueberries. Two things I found challenging were the weather and lack of water. It was foggy and misty most of the time--I never saw Takobia (aka Glacier Peak)! Also, the underbrush on the Pilot Ridge trail combined with a windy drizzle on the third day meant that my feet were completely soaked. At least I had a poncho so my torso was warm, but I was wishing I'd packed my waterproof boots, rain pants, and gaiters. Ironically, despite all the mist, since it was so late in the summer there was virtually no water on the loop between Red Creek camp on the North Fork Sauk trail, and Blue Lake. There were a few trickles between Red Creek camp and White Pass. The water at White Pass campground was little more than a trickle. And no water at all from there until Blue Lake, or from Blue Lake until returning to the North Fork Sauk. Something to plan for.

To get to Blue Lake I took the long way around via the Bald Eagle trail vs the High Route. There was so much fog I didn't feel comfortable tackling what I'd heard was a fairly technical route in low visibility. Approaching Lower Blue Lake from this direction, there were two unnamed ponds that I mistook for Lower Blue Lake until I got to the real one.

Returning back to the North Fork Sauk River trail, I found the crossing of the river to be fairly challenging. The logs were wide but you had to step from one to another one that crossed it. Then getting to the shore you have to pick your way through a few more fallen logs. Fairly interesting for a timid log walker like me when carrying a 30 lb pack.

On my first day I had lunch with two friendly hunters who were hiking up to White Pass with their beautiful pack goats. I wish I had gotten a photo!

Wanted to give a quick heads up to other hikers that my friend and I were followed by a cougar between the turn off to Pilot Ridge and before the switchbacks to White Pass. We technically never saw it, but it was a “what can climb trees and would be following humans for three miles?” kind of situation. We were hiking right at dawn and it stopped following us once we started seeing other campers and hikers. Just be super aware if you are hiking between dusk and dawn in the river valley. 

I spent 3 nights 4 days completing this loop, with an extra day at White Pass Camp to do some exploring around Glacier Meadows and the basin on the other side of Foam Creek Trail.

Day 1: Hiked from North Fork Sauk River trailhead to White Pass Camp - slow going because of the heat and smoke.  It took about 5 1/2 hours for the 10.3 miles. White Pass Camp was pretty full because it was the beginning of Labor Day long weekend.

Day 2: Inversion moved in and it felt much cooler and less smoky in the morning, although socked in.  I took off towards Red Pass and down towards White Chuck Cinder Cone camp, where the XC route is supposed to take off heading east back towards Foam Creek. I couldn't find the trail, so cut across the open meadows and eventually found the route heading up that way.  NOTE: if you want to attempt this route, you'd want to be sure of your backcountry navigation skills.  I followed the waterfall and climbed up to the next basin - beautiful!  From there I continued to follow the next waterfall up and popped up at the tarn right below the notch leading to Foam Creek trail.  Had lunch there soaking up the beauty and the warm sun which was starting to peek out by then. I made my way around the tarn and picked up the climbers' trail which led me back to the notch connecting to Foam Creek trail. Climbed up the knoll next to the notch and roamed a little way down that ridge - amazing views of Glacier Peak and surrounding areas.  Met many climbers that day but no one summited as far as I could tell because of an open crevasse with no snow bridges remaining.  I made my way back to White Pass Camp - hiked 9 miles that day. White Pass Camp was very full that night and it wasn't exactly a peaceful evening.

Day 3: Woke up to clear, blue skies and no smoke!  I left White Pass early to beat the heat, and arrived at Kodiak Peak around 11 am. NOTE: there's not much water along this section so be sure to carry enough. It took about 20 minutes to hike to the summit which was well worth it. Had lunch up there and enjoyed views of Glacier, Indian Head Mtn, and retraced my route from White Pass.  From there it took around 2 hours 15 minutes to Blue Lake on the high route. The high route wastes no time and goes straight up the hill and straight down the other side.  Views from the top were amazing!  It's a pretty straight forward route, ski poles are helpful on the steep descent on scree and talus. Clouds moved in that evening and actually rained a bit in the middle of the night. Total mileage was 10.12 miles on this day.

Day 4: Left camp a bit later than most people, waited for the clouds to clear. Hiked up to the top of Johnson Mountain (0.5 mile one way off the main trail) which is well worth it. The views were stupendous - I retraced my steps from White Pass all the way here, great views of Glacier Peak, Monte Cristo and Sloan Peak. Back on the main trail, I spent the next 2 hours on probably the most spectacular part of this trip, hiking Pilot Ridge with Monte Cristo and Sloan on my left - so close I could almost touch them! NOTE: there's no water from Blue Lake to the very end of Pilot Ridge where it starts plunging down to the river. I stopped for lunch at a spot right before I lost the views to trees, and then it was about 2 hrs 20 minutes of down, down and down the ridge (with occasional ups as well) to the North Fork Sauk.  The trail is a bit rougher than the main trails but not as bad as other reports I've read. River crossing was easy with several huge logs to walk across. From the junction with the main White Pass trail, it was another 2 miles back to the car. Total mileage this day was 13.6 miles.

Total trip mileage was 43 miles. There were a few bugs, and tons of blueberries. I would not hike this loop counterclockwise mainly because of the long, steep slog up to Pilot Ridge (and no water) and it's a long time before you see any views, and when you attain the ridge you'd be hiking away from the views of Monte Cristo and Sloan. Also on a busy weekend like last weekend, you'd be running into people all the time as almost everybody does this loop clockwise.

Completed a 3-night backpack on 9/2-9/5, with nights 1 and 2 at White Pass Camp and night 3 at Blue Lake Camp. On the 2nd day, we did a day hike up to Glacier Peak Meadows. It was a fabulous trip!

The road to the trailhead was a bit rough with lots of potholes, but I think it could be done in most sedans if you went slow. We did get a flat tire at the trailhead that I think was caused by one of the rocks on the road. Lots of parking options at the trailhead.

The hike from the trailhead up to White Pass Camp was a slog, with lots of switchbacks in the sun. White Pass Camp had some nearby streams, a toilet, and was fairly busy when we arrived at 2pm on a Friday (granted, it was a holiday weekend). No bugs.

The hike from White Pass Camp to Blue Lake was beautiful and fairly easy, but only a couple of water sources on the way. We took the high trail into Blue Lake, which was doable, but fairly narrow and steep. I wouldn't recommend it if you aren't confident ascending and descending steep slopes with uneven footing. We had our choice of campsites Saturday at noon, though it was full later in the day. There was a toilet here too, though sometimes I wonder who decides on the placement (totally visible from the trail). No bugs. We did a day hike to Johnson Mountain after setting up camp, which was the highlight of the trip for us! Sensational views - I can't recommend it enough!!

The last day had a lot of nice views before we began descending in earnest. After what felt like forever, we made it to the river and crossed easily on a big log. There were a couple of water sources on the descent, at least one of which seemed like it would be year round.