North Fork Sauk River, Foam Creek Basin — Wednesday, Sep. 4, 2019

My dad and I hiked up the North Sauk River trail, up to White Pass, along the Foam Creek trail into the Foam Basin, and ultimately as far as Glacier Gap. We spent three nights on the trail, camping at Mackinaw Shelter the first and last nights, and in Foam Basin the 2nd night. Total round trip was just over 30 miles.

The trail as far as White Pass (first 10 miles) is in very good shape. If you plan to camp at White Pass, there is very little water there at this point in the season, your best bet is the small streams along the PCT before you get to the pass. The first couple miles of the Foam Creek trail is also in pretty good shape. However, there are a number of places where you have to traverse a slide and deal with sand and scree. Both my wife and my mother hike frequently but likely would have balked at these sections, as it would be easy to slip and fall. However, the exposure isn't too bad - you might slide down a little and get scrapes and bruises, but you'd be able to walk out again.

The sketchiest part of the whole route comes right after the "official" Foam Creek trail ends at the top of a ridge. You'll know that point because it's the first time you can see Glacier Peak. The 3rd picture shows what you can see of the trail going forward from that point. This traverse made me really uncomfortable, because it combined loose scree, steep slopes, and a lot of exposure, all with a heavy pack on. However, the route is still clear and easy to follow.

Once you complete the traverse, you climb up to the top of the ridge and then cross from a green landscape into a gray and brown one. At least once the snow is fully gone, after this point there is only a trail in a very loose sense. There are sometimes cairns, sometimes a noticeable path, but you should be prepared to lose both from time to time. Also, in many places there are multiple routes, both having cairns marking them. It's only 2.75 miles from the entrance to Foam Basin to Glacier Gap, and only about 1000 feet of gain, but it took me close to 3 hours, mostly because I spent so much time trying to follow faint hints of a boot print, or staring at a couple oddly arranged rocks and wondering if they were a cairn. However, it wasn't particularly difficult, just needed good wayfinding skills. The way back was MUCH easier and faster because I knew where I needed to go, and it was easier to see the route from above than from below.

I had intended to go past Glacier Gap and climb part way up Disappointment Cleaver, but my dad had turned back earlier and I didn't want to leave him waiting for too long. After Glacier Gap you do have to lose about 200 feet of elevation before crossing over a saddle and starting up the mountain itself, but other than that it didn't look particularly difficult. Definitely would be important to watch for rockfall, though - the glaciers were covered with it, and a couple climbers who had gone up the day before us described it as "raining rock."

If I did this again I might go through Glacier Meadows instead to avoid the sketchy traverse, though that adds about 3 miles. I know the trip report before this one said they couldn't find the way from Glacier Meadows up into the basin, but having looked down on it from above, it's definitely possible. However, it may be a "trail" in the same loose sense as everything else up in the basin.