North Fork Sauk River — Sunday, Apr. 14, 2019

The road to the trailhead is in reasonable condition - a couple washouts in the usual places and some larger potholes that made me glad for moderately high clearance (Subaru Outback). But I bet a sedan could make it if you're careful. 
There are approx 10 blow-downs across the trail. Some are easy step-overs, while a couple are more significant and take a few minutes to crawl around. All are passable. The trail was largely snow-free until around 3000 ft, including the backcountry campsites and toilet at 4.75 miles. I was surprised to see that Mackinaw Shelter at approx 6.5 miles has been torn down and is now just a pile of lumber. I guess I haven't been up this drainage in a couple years, so maybe that's old news.
Beyond the (former) shelter, the trail starts to climb more steeply and crosses a snow-covered slope that looked ripe for postholing. I'm sure someone more determined could press on further, but I was content to turn around there. This resulted in approx 13 snow-free miles of river valley wandering, which isn't too bad for mid April.
I'd always thought of this trail as "the way to White Pass/Pilot Ridge/Glacier Peak." But this outing reminded me that it's a gorgeous trail in its own right. There are huge old growth cedars right from the start and at least this time of year, there is plenty of solitude.