White River, Napeequa River, High Pass, Buck Creek Pass & Glacier Peak Circumnavigation — Saturday, Sep. 8, 2001

Our party hiked a fantastic 9-day trip around Glacier Peak. We started on Sat, Sept 1 up the White River trail. It gets mighty brushy and we all got soaked in the light rain. The first crossing of the White River must be forded, even at this time of year, but it's easy. After the second crossing at 3700' we camped with soggy boots and dreams of sunny days. Several in the party suffered greatly from blisters caused by the wet boots. Day two had a bit better weather. The upper White River trail is still pretty brushy, but with woody plants instead of annuals. At the 5400' pass we dropped our packs and scampered up Indian Head Peak to take in some good views. We hiked northbound on the PCT to White Pass. There we saw what must have been MounTAIN Woman's tent east of White Mt, and the three Forest Service tents. During the day we heard several huge BOOMS as the three women blasted out rock on the PCT. They halted us and some thruhikers so we wouldn't be blown to smithereens. They sure seemed to be enjoying making all the noise! We headed to Red Pass, where I scrambled Portal and Pt 6910 and White Chuck Cinder Cone. Our camp below Red Pass was a super site with great views and superb stargazing. But a few sprinkles started early the next morning. The third day was a long drop down to the flatlands and mossy rainforests of the White Chuck River valley. We managed the river crossing at Kennedy Creek with no difficulty -- a set of small logs placed 200 feet below the trail. Then up and up Kennedy Ridge to a camp near Pumice Creek. We scrambled up for a stunning view of Glacier Peak from Kennedy Peak. On our fourth day we climbed up the PCT to Fire Creek Pass. While there we scrambled over to Fire Mt, then descended to Mica Lake for a quick dip. Then down, down, down to Milk Creek ... and up, up, up to Milk Ridge, staggering to our camp on its east fork. That night was very chilly. Day five we started up in fog with no views to the Grassy Point junction. We continued northbound on the PCT around Vista Ridge and down to Vista Creek. Two thruhikers came blasting by, wishing for cigarettes at their next stopping at Stehekin! Hmmm. We continued past the Suiattle River and up towards Miners Creek. I took off for an adventure up the steep, abandoned Middle Ridge trail. Sure enough, it's still there if you look very closely. At 4000' look carefully as the trail turns. Blazes mark the way. At 4200' the ridge becomes distinct. There are a few sawn logs. At 4800' are some confusing switchbacks. At 5200' is a welcome flatter section. At 5400' is lots of blueberry brush and the tread is lost. Yum though! At 5500' the trail is lost in grass. There are several dry camps in this middle section. Closer to the Buck Pass trail the tread becomes very distinct due to traffic from that trail. You know you are close. I dropped down the Buck Pass trail to meet the gang at the Miners Creek Camp, a half mile north of the PCT. The sixth day we headed back to Buck Creek Pass to the most splendid blueberry collection on earth. Gorging ourselves on the copious quantity, our lips, teeth, tongues, and fingers turned dark blue. We camped a bit south of Buck Creek Pass near a spring. We climbed Flower Dome and Helmet Butte during the afternoon. During the night a storm came in and blasted our tents. It rained a bit but we managed to get through dinner first. A family of 5 deer entertained us throughout the night. Day seven we hoisted our packs up to High Pass. There is one steep, hard snow area. But we found an easy rock scramble around it. The weather changed from stormy to glorious sunshine and we enjoyed fabulous views of glaciated ridges and peaks, lovely valleys, and austere high alpine lakes. We tried to climb Buck Mt but got way off route. With too little time, we retreated. So we went up Cleator and Mouse Peaks as penance. The eighth day we descended down the pretty Napeequa Valley high route and dropped to the bottom of the valley. The crossing of the Napeequa was only shin deep and soon we were slogging our way up the nicely graded, but sometimes brushy trail to Boulder Pass. We dropped down to a nice camp near Boulder Creek, also complete with tons of blueberries. One doe hung around camp like a pet. Day nine we dropped down the sometimes brushy Boulder Creek trail to the White River and out. A great trip! Stats: 88 miles, 18000' gain (not including extra peaks).