Glacier Peak, North Fork Sauk River — Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017

Central Cascades

Needless to say the "snow covered" part under snow conditions refers to Glacier Peak, not the North Fork Sauk River. North Fork Sauk River is a beautiful old growth trail with humongous trees and hanging moss. There are a few campsites 4.5 miles in (there is one sneaky campsite like 2.5 miles in) and many more at the Mackinaw Shelter ~5.5 miles in. The trail is a mellow, rolling trail that's very well maintained. Past Mackinaw you have ~3 miles of switchbacks, yay! I was glad we knocked these out in the shade because coming down in the sun was brutal and I don't want to know what it'd have been like going up. Towards the top you break above the trees, Sloan and the Monte Cristos will make your jaw drop, and blueberries about and the air smells like pie. White Pass has spectacular campsites, Foam Creek/White River valley looks amazing, and you finally get a glimpse of Glacier Peak. Yeah it looks far, don't panic. The White Chuck Basin is totally neat, crazy to think it was covered by glaciers just a few years ago (okay, maybe like 30 years ago). The traverse is fairly flat with some minor ups and downs. There are campsites here as well and tons of running water as well as some neat tarns and recently formed glacier lakes. Glacier Gap is where we camped. No running water, so stock up on the way down from the peak unless you want to have to walk to a snow patch and melt snow (I'm lazy, so I did not). From Glacier Gap you cross one more saddle where you drop to the ridge and follow that to the Gerdine Glacier, which is still in good shape besides the nasty rock fall coming off Disappointment Peak (think microwave to car sized boulders, yuck). There's some exposed ice crossing to the Cool Glacier, which is more open than the Gerdine. Consider roping up here if you haven't already. It's a quick climb to the final ridge, where you can stash all the snow/glacier gear and slog up sand-dune like scree and talus to the summit. There's a snow patch, but it can be skirted and there's enough of a staircase kicked into it that crampons are unnecessary. <2 hours to Mackinaw shelter, ~7 hours from shelter to Glacier Gap, 4 hours from Glacier Gap to summit. 2 hours back to Glacier Gap, 7 hours from Glacier Gap back to trailhead. More pictues and details in the blog.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://havetent.com/2017/08/28/glacier-peak-via-gerdine-cool-glaciers/