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.
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