White Pass to Chinook Pass — Sunday, Jul. 28, 2019

We hiked from White Pass to Chinook Pass on July 26 and 27.  After reading previous trip reports we were convinced to hike north from White Pass for the views of Rainer during the second half of the hike.  Friday the 26th was a gorgeous blue sky day when we headed north.  The first half the hike was moderately flat, easy walking through the forest with occasional meadow openings. The hike from White Pass to Bumping River was VERY buggy and mosquitoes would swarm if you slowed or stopped.  Bumping River was an easy crossing and we didn’t need the downed log across the river.  At about 15 miles we climbed out of the flats hoping to get above the mosquitoes and to find a camping site.  There were still lots of mosquitoes up on the ridge which forced us into the tent early.  It was a dry camp just below the ridge line at about 17miles.  We planned to top off our water the next day along the trail, but most of small tributaries that were near the trail have dried up.  The first real water near the trail was at the trail junction with American Lakes. But from there to Chinook Pass there was plenty of water.  We woke up the second day excited for the views, but unfortunately we were engulfed in misty clouds that turned into a steady drizzle until about noon.  So while we knew Rainier was out in the clouds somewhere, we never did see it.  We finished off the last 11 miles to Chinook for a total of just over 28 miles.  There were lots and lots of wildflowers all along the route and a fair number of hikers.