I had been told by an old friend that this hike was spectacular and that I must do it, preferably as a backpacking destination. That was six years ago and while I didn’t stay overnight, I finally made it out this past weekend. How I wish I would have gone sooner! And to have been able to camp!
The details:
Road & Parking: The road, as others have mentioned, is in decent condition but is quite long. It took us about an hour on Cascade River Road to get to the lot. The first ten miles or so are paved, the next few miles are quite washboard-y, it gets a bit better for a while, and then the steep parts towards the end are paved. There are a few larger potholes in the last mile but my mini countryman did just fine and we had lots of small car company at the top. We got to the trailhead at 8:15am and somewhat surprisingly snagged one of the last spots in the lot; the cloudy and wet weather may have delayed or deterred folks. Bathrooms available in the parking lot but bring your own TP.
Conditions: The (much needed) rain from the day prior brought the trail to life! We saw many little streams flowing and appreciated how lush everything felt. While some folks ahead of us noted that it was completely socked in at the top, we lucked out and were able to catch glimpses of neighboring peaks in the distance throughout our hike. Conditions seemed to keep improving and the clouds started to eventually burn off as we headed down. One note: it seemed like many folks turned around once they reached Sahale Arm base camp, perhaps because visibility was lower and it was hard to tell where to go. However, if you press on just a bit further past the first few tent sites, you are rewarded with a close up view of Sahale Glacier.
Wildlife: Tons of wildflowers out on the trail and lots of blueberries nearly the entire way. I’ve never seen so many marmots (10+ sightings), some within a handful of feet from the trail. We also saw pikas, grouse, and a mountain goat. Please remember to leave no trace – while it seemed like everyone we crossed paths with were respectful, we did pick up a few pieces of trash on trail.
Even with the cloudy weather, this was easily one of the coolest day hikes I’ve done. If I can score permits, I’d love to repeat this on a clearer day and catch sunset/sunrise from the glacier.
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