Pilot Ridge, North Fork Sauk River — Saturday, Jul. 23, 2005

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Brian and I got a late start on friday for our three day 30 mile loop in the Glacier Peak and Henry Jackson wildernesses. It had rained pretty hard right up to early afternoon. However, by 1:45pm we were up and running, crossing the log over the North Fork Sauk River to the 3,000 ft. ascent up to Pilot Ridge. Two hours and twenty minutes later we were on top of the ridge as the clouds from the earlier rains continued to linger making things moist and wet. We arrived at our evening's camp site, Freeman's Camp, 8.5 half miles from the trailhead. It was a good day considering the late start and the humid conditions. Saturday morning the skies were clearing and Glacier Peak was bright and beautiful as usual. What a stunning volcanoe on a bright, blue sky summer morning! We had twelve miles to go that day so we headed out at about 9:00am and commenced to do some serious hiking. Upon arriving at Blue Lake, we met up with two fine ladies whom we had met at the trailhead, and replenished ourselves with water. The shortcut over to the Bald Eagle trail is a thigh burner, but well worth it for the views over to Mt. Daniel and Mt. Hinman. We spent the majority of the day hiking the PCT up to White Pass and being amazed at the scenery and views around every corner we took. We made camp that evening in a meadow just below the Pass looking up at White mountain. Sunday morning we headed down the PCT for just one mile to the North Fork Sauk River Trail, and decended 3,000 ft. to the river and the ancient shelter. From there it was approximately two hours (5 miles) to the trailhead and the truck. After our loop we drove to Darrington where I purchased a Diet Coke and some Doritos (an Ice cream Cone and Pringles for Brian). Man, that tasted good! We were back in Bellevue by 4:30pm which made for a nice steak and beer supper with my better half (who let's me feed my hiking addiction very patiently) that evening. It was a 29.3 mile loop over an extended weekend that I'll never forget, given that it was my initial trip on this section of the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Stunning and grand to say the least. I've included a picture of the Monte Cristo Peaks and Sloan, plus a late afternoon shot of Glacier Peak. I highly recommend this loop for in-shape backpacking lovers.