Two night backpack on American Ridge, 1st night dry camp near Mesatchee Jct, 2nd in Big Basin.
Drove from Yakima to Mesatchee TH. Afternoon start. Mesatchee Creek trail was recently logged out by a generous volunteer. Only 1 big downed tree on Mesatchee Creek trail. Significant but navigable snowfields on the final half mile before top of ridge. My partner used spikes for traction. Water abundant along Mesatchee Trail. Nice waterfall along the ascent. We camped at the nice dry camp at the junction with the American Ridge trail.
Day 2: The hike along American Ridge, East to Big Basin had several 16-24" trees down. After dropping into the basin the trail fades out, but can be picked up again by slightly dropping further, aiming for an alleyway through the trees. There was a decent trickle of water before hitting the trees. We camped at a well established site in the trees. Some mosquitos and we used head nets, but weren't too bad.
We then hiked up along the trail to the high point on American Ridge. Excellent views of Rainier. We opted to not continue farther along the trail and not drop the 1000' down toward Kettle Creek, due to snow.
Day 3 - we hiked out, 4.5h back to the TH.
These photos show the view from the American Ridge trail from both sides of the Big Basin. We saw no other hikers for the duration of the trip.
The American Ridge is a special trail that is at risk of disappearing. We'd love to participate in a WTA backcountry trip in the William O Douglas!
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