Bald Eagle Mountain, Pilot Ridge & North Fork Sauk River — Saturday, Jul. 22, 2017

When was the last time you did an overnight backpack and saw just one other hiker the entire trip? We're not sure why this trail was so unpopulated because it had some gorgeous views, but we were happy to be by ourselves.

Started out by dropping our bags off at the trailhead for Bald Eagle (no. 650) and driving back 3 miles to the North Fork Sauk River trailhead, where we would end. Lots of mosquitos, and we stupidly had left the Deet in our bags, so we got a little nibbled on on our way to the trailhead. C was nervous about the trail conditions, since we hadn't been able to find any trip reports and it seemed an unpopular hike, but although it was a little brushy, the trail was clear through Curry Gap. Couldn't see a trail for Quartz Creek even with signage--I think that's overgrown quite a lot. Onwards up Bald Eagle Mountain. Not a lot of views to the south due to cloud cover, but some glimpses here and there of ranges beyond. We camped at Long John Camp, 8 miles from the trailhead (11 miles total from our car). There was water, and a really nice campsite, but lots of bugs.

The next day, we passed through Spring Camp (9 miles from trailhead), but couldn't really see any water source (we didn't look too hard, though). Passed June Mountain and the junction for Dishpan Gap, then down to Blue Lakes. Some snow fields, but nothing treacherous. We camped at Upper Blue Lake, which was half frozen, but beautiful. Lots of bugs, again. We met the only other hiker we saw the entire time at the junction to Upper Blue--he had forgotten Deet and he was COVERED in bites. I've never seen so many bites on a single person before. A little scary.

It was a relatively quick hike to Upper Blue--we got there in about 4.5 hours, so after a rest, we decided to get up to Johnson Mountain to see if we could get a glimpse of Glacier Peak. This was a toughy--about 4 miles round trip and 1200ft gain/loss, but oh my god. The views! We got an amazing 360 degree view on all sides with Rainier in the distance, Glacier Peak in stunning detail, Sloan Peak and the ranges nearby, etc. Just gorgeous. Totally worth it.

The next day, we again ascended up Pilot Ridge and waved goodbye to Johnson as we passed. (You could do the offshoot up Johnson here, instead of doing a day hike from Upper Blue, but we were glad we did it the other way, as the hike out was brutal). Our book says the trailhead is 11.5 miles from Upper Blue, and that it's some of the "finest ridge-walking in the North Cascades". We decided that it had some moments, but mostly it was a slog up and down through trees, with some ridiculously toe-jamming steepness, at one point descending 3,000 ft in about 2 miles. Also a lot of fallen trees/logs on the trail. Including breaks, it took us 7 hours to get down.

Crossing Sloan Creek was a little sketchy--we decided to cross on the logs instead of fording it. (Just don't look down...) Pretty flat from there to the trailhead, but our feet were crying at the end. 35 miles in 3 days is no easy feat! But if you want to find near solitude, see some marmots, picas, deer, and pheasants (maybe?), then go for it!

Another note--there were so many blueberry/huckleberry bushes on this hike. In another month, it will be trail candy all the way!