Getting a later start on Monday, we took two days to hike to White Pass, staying the first night at the Mackinaw Shelter camp (shelter is just a pile of rubble now) and tackling the steep uphill grind the next morning. After setting up camp below White Pass we hiked over to Red Pass in the afternoon. The clouds parted and the sun shone as we took in the amazing views of the valley and Glacier Peak.
Wednesday the clouds were all tangled on the ridge and mist turned to rain as the day progressed. We day-hiked over to Indian Pass where we discovered a very nice established campsite under trees and enjoyed our lunch relatively out of the wet. That night the wind picked up and the rain continued. The next morning did not promise the blue skies and sun we hoped for, so we decided to hike out the way we had come instead of doing the complete loop.
On our way down, we passed a Forest Service crew heading up for a week of trail work, so the trails up to and around White Pass should be nicely passable the rest of the summer. Also, the road was being graded when we drove in on Monday, which eliminated the worst of the potholes.
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