Road: Full of potholes! Very slow going.
Trailhead: about a dozen parking spots, all full, but we were able to park along the road without issue. The toilet was stocked, if a bit low. There was a trail register where people described their purpose as “escaping reality.”
Day 1: Our group is pretty low energy, and we didn’t want to head up to White Pass in one day, so we camped at Mackinaw Shelter the first night. The “shelter” itself is now a pile of boards, but there were plenty of spaces available, which eventually filled up. We got one of two nice spots by the river down towards the toilet. Plenty of rocks and logs by the water to dangle our feet and cool off. We had more food than our bear can would hold, and finding a good branch to hang the excess from was a pain. Despite being a forest, most of the branches were either too low, or too close to the trunk or camp.
The trail itself was fabulous, wide, and smooth. We ran into a volunteer WTA crew smoothing it out even more for horses.
Day 2: We left early to beat the heat. The way up to the PCT is steep, and while the lower part is shaded in the woods, it was so humid, we were soon dripping with sweat. In the upper section, the temperature and humidity dropped a bit, and we encountered meadows full of flowers (a bit past their peak) and berries (some places had loads of ripe berries, others were still getting there.) Flies were pretty terrible, especially when we stopped at one of a couple little streams on the PCT to get water.
The White Pass campground is a couple hundred feet below the PCT on a steep but short trail. There’s a lovely meadow lined with trees that shelter the campsites. If you’re in the right spot, you get great views of the Monte Cristo range. Water is available at the north end of the camp, the toilet at the south. The slope the toilet is on is eroding away, and the toilet was unnervingly wobbly. (Also, the south-most campsite is visible from the toilet, so keep that in mind)
We got to hang out with a couple marmots nearby, and a grouse perched in a tree in the next campsite over and hooted every few minutes until night fell. Even though the campground mostly filled up, it still felt peaceful and uncrowded.
We day hiked up to the White Chuck Glacier, but I'll make a separate post for that.
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