Came up the North Fork Sauk trail, continued on the PCT over Red Pass and camped in the Glacier Peak meadows area. This campsite is awesome, the view is inspiring. There is a good water source nearby. Bonus - there's a new pit toilet here!

The second night I camped at Dishpan Gap. As mentioned by other hikers, be prepared to carry water as there is none here. But it was a sweet little spot nonetheless.

The third night I took an easy day and stayed at Little Blue Lake. It may not have the same impact scenery-wise as Blue Lake, but the solitude was blissful. I thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the two little ponds below the lake, being watched by fish who didn't seem to find a human being threatening.

I did want to point out that there were multiple people who saw bears eating huckleberries on the slope where the North Fork Sauk trail comes up to join the PCT. I saw a total of 3 bears in two days - what a treat! If you are camping at White Pass, it would be a good idea to consider the bears when storing your food.

We hiked the loop in reverse, starting with ascending pilot ridge to Upper Blue Lake. Our thinking was it would be better to get the river crossing and uphill done early on the first day and ascend in the shade of the woods - it was still a very difficult ascent! Continual steep switchbacks, and we did run out of water around 1-2 hours outside of Blue lake (which is of course seasonal). We anticipated big views on the ridge, but unfortunately it takes a while even after reaching the ridge so be prepared to wait a bit for your reward! Overnighting at Blue Lake was lush - bugs weren’t too bad, and the lake is serene, quiet and peaceful. Day two, we intended for a shorter, easier 4.5 mile day taking the low route to Dishpan Gap (didn’t want to try the high route with a dog). However there is no water at Dishpan gap!! We ended up pushing on to the reflection pond to camp. There was very limited water between dishpan gap and the reflection pond, there was a small creek a mile or two before the reflection pond. Again, definitely seasonal, there were loads of dried out little creek beds, but be aware. Overnighting at reflection pond was again lovely but very buggy! We had amazing sunset views of Sloan peak in a quiet, tucked away place, but be prepared for bugs. Day three we headed out through White pass, descending to the N fork Sauk TH. The descent was manageable and we were able to do it early in the day/avoid the sun and enjoy the views. Plus, red creek is a great place to soak your tired feet on your way out at the end of a pretty long descent! In hindsight, our reversing the route meant you get to ascend in the shade (although it is brutal switchbacks), more uphill the first two days, and a much easier last day. Main highlights were Upper Blue Lake, amazing views along the PCT, great campsites, blueberries; main drawbacks were bugs, and minimal water between Blue Lakes and the reflection pond. 

Started from White pass TH on Friday morning. Busy parking lot at 09:30, many folks aiming for Glacier peak. but there was still space.
The trail to White pass is in great shape and well maintained. A WTA crew was making further improvements early on the trail. It is a nice hike in the woods (beautiful old large cedars, etc.) for most of the hike and then a steep uphill to connect w the PCT. As we emerge from the woods the views are amazing (Saulk Glacier). And berries became plentiful and ripe. We camped at white pass. 11.8 miles

day 2 we hiked to Blue lake. We had some fog w us for a couple of hours and it made great effects as we were admiring Glacier peak and surrounding ridges. We took the upper cut off, it is certainly steep and narrow. With the sun in the PM it made for a healthy climb. The ridge allows for a nice view down to blue lake. We did see some Smoke from the south East, did not seem to be moving North. Blue lake was cold but a refreshing dip! Small fishes abound. 9.6 miles.

day 3 was to catch up to Pilot trail. Views of Rainier, Goat peaks,… and many mountains in between. Not many water sources till the final downhill part of that trail. The Saulk river crossing is made on large tree trunks and the trail is being cleared up around this area. 11.5 miles 

Overall, a great multi night hike. Mosquitoes mostly kept at bay with our respective methods, gears, products. All 3 days gave us great vistas ! 

Was planning to do this as a 2 night loop but didn’t end up staying the night. Hiked in about 3ish miles and turned around because of the smoke from the White River fire. Smoke was filling the river valley and visibility to glacier peak was slightly obstructed. I will definitely come back to do this when it’s not smokey!

This was a three day trip starting on the North Fork Sauk with stops at White Pass, Blue Lake via the High Route and ending on Pilot Ridge. My partner and I brought our two dogs who were total champs considering how challenging this route can be.

Day 1:

First and foremost, big shout out to the members of the amazing work party who went through this area ahead of us. Great work! Big thanks!

The North Fork Sauk was such a pleasantly shady ramble through the woods. The abundant water along this section makes it easy to fill up before the hot, dusty, butt buster of an ascent to the PCT and eventually White Pass. There are still a few little streams flowing across the switch backs, so the dogs had easy access to a quick drink. From the pass we headed down to a great campsite in the little basin where you will also find a privy with an excellent view. Bugs were not nearly as bad as I expected.

The Garmin said this was an approximately 14 mile day despite the map suggesting that it’s only 10.2. Our average pace leads me to believe the Garmin might be more accurate, but who knows.

Day 2:

The section of the PCT was gorgeous and absolutely covered in flowers! The lupines in particular are at full bloom right now and the blue berries are starting to ripen up on the high sunny slopes. There were a number of places to get water before tackling the Blue Lake High Route. Don’t forget to check out the view point right at the trail junction. The high route wasn’t as intense as the description suggested but it is indeed narrow, exposed, dusty, and traverses a small scree field on the lake side. I just focused on my footing and took it slow. I was also grateful for the added stability from my trekking poles. Blue Lake had a handful of sites to choose from when we arrived around noon and the dogs enjoyed cooling off in the lingering snow field.

The Garmin and map were in consensus this time, clocking in around 10 miles.

Day 3:

Before heading out in the morning we made sure to fill up with as much water as we could carry. There are NO good water sources between the lake and the creek midway down the absolutely relentless decent to the North Fork Sauk. Also,make sure that you do not miss out on the views from up on Johnson; it is absolutely worth it (period).

The first half of the day was spectacular considering the magnificent views on Johnson and the relatively mellow route along the exposed meadows and then slowly down into the forested section of Pilot Ridge. But then we began our descent in earnest and by the time we got to the river my knees felt like they were ready to explode. This section of the trail is quite steep and therefore has experienced a lot of erosion to the point where it occasionally feels like you’re hiking down a creek bed. Lots of blow downs here too, but nothing hard to navigate. The logs across the river are pretty easy to cross though they all require getting up and over another log midway across.

Side note: If your dog is not capable or comfortable with crossing a log 4-6 feet above the water while also clearing a 2’ high log OR fording the river, this may be a tricky section. One of my dogs had luckily gotten very used to hopping over logs along the Pilot Ridge descent and was able to cross with relative ease. The other dog jumped in the river a swam to the other side like a freaking otter with zero prompting (pointers, am I right?!).

Again the Garmin and map were way off. Map was closer to 10 again with Garmin showing closer to 14. Curiouser and curiouser. 

Overall, 10/10, totally worth it and appropriate for rugged adventure dogs.