North Fork Sauk River — Monday, May. 12, 2003

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

I had heard that there were a lot of big trees on this trail, and it is true. The jumbos started right in the parking lot and just got bigger and better as I progressed. There is a variety of species growing practically side by side on this trail, all in gigantic profusion. Spruce in the swampy lowlands, Doug Fir on the benches. The trail is in great shape, smooth, wide, and soft, with a carpet of semi-compressed pine needles. The skunk cabbage are blooming and stinking. There is one difficult blow down about 1/2 mile in, I wish I had brought my hand saw as removing a dozen branches or so would make it much easier. The elevation gain on this trail is so gradual as to feel like none at all. There were some mosquitos and biting flies, but not bad enough to make me use chemical weapons to combat them. There is no snow at all. There is a nice view of Sloan Peak at about 1 mile in. I only saw one other person all day, they were just leaving as I arrived.