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Trip Report

Meander Meadow - Dishpan Gap - Cady Ridge Loop, Little Wenatchee River & Lake Sally Ann — Friday, Aug. 8, 2025

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East
Meander Meadow

Two night loop clockwise. Up Cady Ridge trail to camp at Lake Sally Ann night 1 - PCT over Dishpan Gap to Meander Meadow to camp night 2 - down and out via Little Wenatchee River trail. Other trail reports detail the highs and lows of this route, so just to add my take/some color.

Flora: There are some really gorgeous grassy meadows and neat sedges along Cady Ridge, and the low bush huckleberries are prime. Meander Meadow is spectacular. Again the grasses/sedges are delightful and look like lavender mist over the meadow as you descend, and along the trail and in the meadow tons of Cascade aster, bistort, fireweed, arnica, corn lily, paintbrush (red and whitish/light yellow), purple monkey flower, monk's hood, thistle, cow parsnip, small bluebells, lousewort, pearly everlasting, heather, elephant's head, spirea, bog gentian, goat's beard etc. etc. etc. And yes both devil's club and stinging nettle along Little Wenatchee trail.

Fauna: Saw a deer (buck?) grazing below Sally Ann at dusk. Lots of marmots everywhere, including the two cutest little marmots playing/chasing each other, hiding, and chirping to each other in Meander Meadow. Heard pikas, saw none. Fish in the Meader Meadow streams - my husband really hopes they are bull trout Smiley A big old toad down Little Wenatchee trail and a garter snake sunning itself, too. Grouse being grouse. Bugs bad at times, buzzing and biting, but not too too terrible.

 Toilet talk: Contrary to the WTA description, there is a toilet at the Wenatchee Ford trailhead and it was clean and stocked. Toilet at Sally Ann is barely serviceable and be forewarned, in full view of at least two campsites and the trail. Toilet at Meander Meadow is fine... but why didn't they face it towards the view??? Grinning face with smiling eyes

Other: There's a detour on the road to the trail head, just follow the signs, but it does seem to add a bit of time/mileage and feels like you're going the wrong way at times. Maybe 7 cars at the trailhead around 11 am on a Friday. There were probably a dozen tents at Sally Ann on Friday night, but it didn't feel crowded and good privacy between most sites. Mix of thru, section, and weekend hikers it seemed. There was only one other group at Meander Meadow on Saturday night. Traffic as you'd expect on the PCT on a beautiful Saturday in August, but on Cady Ridge and Little Wenatchee trails we only met one or two other groups. 

The views along this route are excellent. Once you get up on Cady Ridge and basically for the rest of the trip (until you're down on the Little Wenatchee trail) there's one after another after another. When you're grinding up Cady Ridge know that you will be rewarded. Glacier is stunning, as are all the other peaks in all directions. Meander Meadow is enchanting. Other reports detail the brushy-ness of Little Wenatchee and they're right. It's really brushy. I guess a redeeming factor was it was hot and my dew-soaked pants provided a little bit of natural AC. I am glad we did this trip clockwise, as the Cady Ridge trail was more interesting to me, and again a reward for the uphill slog endured for the first few miles. Also seems like the Cady Ridge downhill would be a little rougher on the knees than Little Wenatchee.

Grassy meadow and view on Cady Ridge
View of Cady Ridge from campsites at Lake Sally Ann
Bog gentian at Meander Meadow
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