Someone mentioned on another review as such "it was the best of trails, it was the worst of trails" and that could not be more true of this anti-clockwise loop (LWF - Meander Meadow - Kodak Peak - Cady Ridge - return to LWF).
The road to Little Wenatchee Ford Trailhead is quite a journey, thanks in part to an unexpected detour in the late hours on Friday, July 5. The way was rough at times, but passable by most vehicles with extreme care toward the end of the road. I was thankful for my higher clearance vehicle, and still managed to bang up the undercarriage at one point. Upon arrival, we became at least the 7th or 8th vehicle in the lot, and still there was space for a few more. Pit toilet was out of service, sadly. We car camped here for the night.
We set off on the Little Wenatchee Trail on Saturday morning, loaded up for an overnight at Lake Sally Ann. This trail was a DOOZY. Overgrown is an understatement. We are familiar with most regions around here and have sampled them all, with this one exception. With that said, our primary error was assuming wearing shorts would be a good idea. Dear Reader, it was not. The overgrowth was consuming my 5' 7" at many points. The stinging nettle and devil's club were two plants that I could have done without encountering with bare legs. The bugs were relentless, though Bullfrog with SPF 50 did a decent job of deterring them. Everytime we neared a stand of evergreens, I was thrilled at the prospect of reprieve from the overgrowth. We were grateful when the elevation started climbing and we lost the bulk of the prickly/stingy plants, but you can look forward to about 5-6 miles of this nonsense. There are blowdowns to negotiate and you should keep your eyes down to ensure you are not about to trip an fall face-first into nettles, as the trail is obscured quite often. Upon reaching the meadows, we decided to eat breakfast, filter water, and have some coffee before carrying on. Water source in the meadow is wonderful and flowing nicely at this time. The meadow is gorgeous and the bugs were ridiculous of course.
From here, we moved upward toward the PCT, with our next objective in sight - Kodak Peak. Be sure to look back and admire the views of the river valley as you gradually climb. The wildflowers are overwhelming and it is simply stunning up there. Once we reached the junction, we turned South on the PCT and walked until the saddle, where Glacier Peak suddenly comes into full view. Another stunner here! There are a few campsites around to the east and west. We dropped our packs and took the left hand trail toward Kodak Peak.
The trail to the summit is generally a walk-up. There are a few confusing offshoot trails, but they all eventually tie back together. This was like a staircase to heaven with flowers and views. Once at the summit, there is a nice flat spot for someone who plans ahead and brings their water for the evening to camp. Even though the winds were consistent, we were mauled by mosquitoes. These guys were out for blood and nothing was going to deter them. We made it brief and moved on quickly. That was the worst of the bugs for sure.
We now only had to load our packs on our backs and backtrack North on the PCT to Lake Sally Ann, which was our camp for the night. This has some ups and downs and is cruisy PCT sailing as one would expect. There were few snowfields, lots of water/mud, and views. Upon reaching Dishpan Gap, the trail moves to the west side of the mountain and there were several snow crossings that required a bit more care and trekking poles. From Ward's Pass, the trail drops quite a bit in elevation and there were a few East/Northeast-facing snow-covered rocky areas to negotiate. All were definitely crossable, but might become a bit dicey as the snow melts. I found myself just moving as quickly and lightly as I could to hopefully avoid punching through. After the junction with Cady Ridge Trail, you are in the home stretch to the lake. The lake was mostly melted out, but lots of surrounding snow, which reduced the campsite options by quite a bit. There were two others at the lake when we arrived and at least 6 more were added before the night was done. The lake is beautiful and there are rainbow trout milling about in the clear water. The soundtrack was provided by the waterfall, pikas sounding alarms, and many lovely birds: Varied Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, and what I presume are Violet-green swallows. If anyone has any knowledge of the swallows in this area, I would love to know more. These birds were so fun to watch in the morning. They were skimming the water together in increasing numbers and flying in formation. It was such a wonderful way to eat breakfast in the morning.
After breaking camp, onward we hiked, back to the trailhead via the Cady Ridge Trail. After the quick jaunt back to the South on the PCT, we turned right onto our next trail. This section was absolutely stunning. Glacier Peak is ever-present and now you start to simultaneously have all the Central Cascade heavy-hitters in view - even everyone's favorite volcano (my second favorite), Rainier. This place must be a riot of color in the autumn and I would love to come back and take it all in! The hiking is lovely, the views are breathtaking, and the geology is mesmerizing. Open ridge hiking is something I could get used to. A bit of in-n-out of the trees, wide open views, some interesting blowdowns, and suddenly you are headed essentially straight down the drainage. My knees were quite relieved when we dropped down to about 3700 ft and we had some proper switchbacks. A few more brushes with the overgrown river flora and we arrived back to the junction with the Little Wenatchee Ford trail. Keep in mind that there is no reliable water between the PCT junction and the Little Wenatchee. There were a few small trickles, but it's very swampy and earthy. We will be back, but not via the Little Wenatchee Trail - haha!
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