Did a day hike/run of the full loop yesterday. I haven’t posted in here before, but I have used it frequently and with the changing conditions this seemed like it might be helpful. A few notes:
- very little snow all the way through white pass. As I continued onto the southeast corner of the loop there was more and route finding wasn’t always obvious. Very possible to figure out though. I wish I could give more information on where exactly it was, but I don’t remember exactly. I would imagine in a week it will all be melted out. Maybe 2 weeks
- I packed an ice axe which only ended up being used as unfortunate training weight. Although I was on snow frequently, all areas were of low consequence so wasn’t needed.
- no water from blue lakes until almost the bottom of pilot ridge. This is very important to note as was nearly problematic for me. There are a few snow patches, but those will be gone soon.
- I took the blue lakes high route. I was surprised by how exposed it was. All of the movements were easy, but the consequences of a fall would be severe there. Only do it if you feel very comfortable on steep terrain.
- the first half or 2/3 of the trip was absolutely incredible trail running and I was able to keep a good pace. The last portion was very difficult to run as the trail was often faint and did not have great footing. Good for backpacking and hiking, bad for running.
- total trip stats were 30.2 miles. 7k’ of gain, 9:22 time

I unfortunately left some very nice black diamond trekking poles at the TH. Please let me know if you found them!

Fri 7-24 Great walk up N Fork of Sauk in old growth treed trail...fill up with water at site of old shelter because its 25+ switchbacks up to the ridge to contour over to the pass. We decided to go clockwise because we got started late and it was an overcast,cool 50 degree day. The disadvantage of clockwise is climbing the exposed switchbacks in the heat of the day...advantage is that on Pilot Ridge, you are walking towards Sloan and Monte Cristo thru the meadows, altho its a long ways down on last day. Left at 11am, at White Pass at 430pm. No snow on first day...first water after hitting ridge is two melt streams coming off White Mtn about .5 mile from the Pass. We camped at far south end of pass in the trees...two good toilets just past this campsite. Plenty of water from snowmelt....9+ miles

Sat7-25 Up early to bluebird day, high 60s....walked over the Foam Basin trail to near the end....many snowfields to cross but with warmer weather easy to navigate. Then off to Red Pass, about two miles...climbed knoll to south of Pass for great view of GP and Whitechuck basin...lots of snow and would be a very careful traverse going down, easier coming up. Then pack up and off to Blue Lake. Nuff said about this part of the PCT, great ridge views as it meanders down and around, past Indian Mtn to Dishpan Gap. Good looking bear in meadow to west just before Indian Pass. Take a right at the Gap and off to the High route to Blue Lake. The cornice SHALot mentioned is only a big snowbank at the top. Great exposure, met a couple with a mini Schauz in a front pack coming down the S side. There was a still pretty significant snow field leading out of the basin to the lower part of the trail...I did spikes on it but the steps were set pretty good in the snow. We arrived around 530pm,  bummer, no campsites...so hoofed it down to lower Blue Lake and met rest of our party that went the lower route to the lake. A lil buggy that night....but sometimes its worth it....at that altitude, a bald eagle was fishing at lower Blue Lake!.. watched it in fading light miss on a pass, turn and fly within 50 feet of me, then right by our camp...20 mile day

Sun 7-26 Up early because its 70+ degrees and its a long day out with no water after you break camp till going down to the Sauk river. Big snowfield left as you come out of the basin, stay left towards the large rock, marmot home...just past it, you reach the westerly traverse of the trail of Pilot Ridge. Some interesting snowfields under Johnson Mtn but warm enough in the morning to be soft. Then off to the ridge for several miles of some of the better ridge,flower meadow walking around with great views of Sloan,Monte Cristo an some GP along with views south all way to Rainier. Then it gets into the up and down ridge hike until after 9+ miles you get to the right turn to start the descent to the N Fork of Sauk...wind around, pass a nice seepage in less the .25 mile, then last good stream at mile down...then 35+ switchbacks deposit us at the rushing creek. Big single log to the left is a good one but there are multiple choices to cross here...could even ford it, just hard scamble up the side. Then two easy miles to the car. Everybody was pretty tired of the down in terms of quads and toenails complaining, but thats a great loop....13+ miles

Happy trails

Arrived at the North Fork Sauk TH around 1130 on Friday morning and the parking lot was packed. There is a toilet at the TH if needed. The North Fork Sauk trail is in good shape and starts out mild following the river.  After about mile 5.5 you head up some switch backs which will make you sweat. From the top you intersect with the PCT and head south towards White Pass camp.  It is beautiful! Wild flowers out and bright green meadows, just lovely.  Plenty of camp space at White Pass, two toilets.  This is a spot where a lot were camping to climb Glacier Peak as well. 

Day 2 we took a short jont without packs back N on PCT to climb up Red Pass to get a look at Glacier Peak; Great views, lots of snow in the basins there.  Then headed S on PCT towards Dishpan Gap. The trail in good shape, some snow fields to cross (not difficult), but these should be melted off in a week I would guess in this sun. This part of the PCT is a nice mild hike, very nice.  From Dishpan we took the trail towards Blue Lakes.  We opted to take the longer route to the lakes instead of the high route to upper Blue lake because we were unsure of how sketchy the snow would be to cross up there.  The trail around adds about 4 miles and was difficult to find at times due to snow.  But it is all passible. We camped at lower Blue lake and had the camp to ourselves.  Bugs were out in full force.  

Next day we headed out on the Pilot Ridge Trail.  Grab water at the lake, because there is no reliable water until you get down to the river. This a beautiful ridge walk with views on both sides.  It was hot out, but fortunately once you get past the open ridge most of the hike out is shaded.  The last bit of down back to the North Fork Sauk trail is a punishing few miles and will make you think you need knee replacements.  This was a beautiful loop hike with plenty of views, wild life (saw numerous marmots and bear) and wildflowers. 

I'd been wanting to do this loop hike up and around the North Fork of the Sauk for a long time and this year was the year! My buddy and I got a late start on Tuesday from the trailhead where we were shocked at all the cars parked there mid-week! No matter. We hefted our packs and walked the gentle six miles to the Mackinaw Shelter remains and made camp next to a roaring Sauk river. (The bugs were kind of bad there so I'd highly recommend taking along a mosquito head net.) 

The next day we got an early start in anticipation of the twenty-six switchbacks ascending 3000' in three miles. Thankfully the weather was cloudy and cool so we didn't have to bake in the sun. If you do this on a sunny afternoon, be prepared with lots of water...although there was a gushing stream at switchback fifteen you have to climb down to. Not sure if it will be there in a month or two, but good to know for future hikes.

We crested White Pass late morning as the clouds began breaking up, revealing stunning views of Glacier Peak and expansive vistas east and south, all framed by a mind-blowing array of lupines, paintbrush, glacier lilies and gobs of LWF - little white flowers. Since the weather had become so incredibly nice, we decided to lollygag the day away watching the clouds float by and ambling along the ridge top meadows.

We spent the next day hiking north on the PCT to Red Pass for a look-see down into White Chuck Basin. Beware: the trail down into the basin is chock full of snow - I wouldn't want to descend into that valley until the boot-packed trail had thawed a bit.

That night it rained and blew and we woke to quite a different, damp world. Views were nil but the cloud banks racing past were lovely nonetheless. We packed up early and sloshed southward down the PCT towards Dishpan Gap where we hooked a right and headed towards Blue Lake. Not sure of the potentially snowy northwestern aspect of the high route to Blue (we later saw that it was just fine) we decided to take the longer/lower route which took us across some of the most challenging snowfield crossings we would encounter. Nothing you can't do if you have hiking poles, take your time and do it when the snow is soft. Finally arriving at Curry Gap, we descended about 600' and then climbed back up the same to Blue Lake, passing lovely Little Blue on the way.

The weather had improved dramatically and we made camp after having hiked about fourteen miles that day. Next day we filled our water bladders extra full (there's none to be had until partway down the last descent) and set out for a much-anticipated walk up Johnson Mtn and then along Pilot Ridge. The trip reports are quite correct when they state it's a breathtaking hike full of wildflowers, views of Rainier and Sloan Peak and many, many ups and downs. "Where's that dern last down?", I kept asking myself. Careful for what you wish for, because the last down is 2.5 miles of put-on-the-breaks, quad-quivering, knee-aching descending of a steep, poorly maintained track at times not worth calling a trail. Whine, whine, whine...eventually the end came in site which was a long, not-so-wide log across the rushing Sauk River. Coaxing my pup across was a bit of a challenge, not to mention my Gumby legs not exactly being in the best of shape but we survived without mishap and managed to hike another day.

Did a one-night trip to White Pass via the North fork Sauk River trail. We didn't actually do the 'pilot ridge loop'. 

Day 1: Arrived at the trailhead at 11:00am, parking area was packed but we found a spot fairly close to the trailhead. Began hiking a few minutes later and passed Mackinaw Shelter at 1:00pm (~5 miles from the TH). This part of the trail is mostly flat. There are some really impressive old-growth trees in this forest! The hike became much more arduous after this point. It was blazing hot and very humid too. Made it to White Pass at 4:30-5:00pm. There are tons of wildflowers and marmots all around. There were roughly 10 other groups camped near the ridge, most of whom had climbed or were climbing Glacier. We set up camp then hiked almost to Glacier Gap (you need ice-axe and crampons to get over the gap right now). Then we hiked to Red Pass for sunset. Unfortunately, Glacier Peak stayed in hiding that day but there were plenty of other neat views!

Day 2: Left camp at 9:00am. Day 2 was even hotter than Day 1. We hiked down the way we came up and arrived back at the car at 1:00pm.