Quick details: 3 nights, 4 days starting at the North Fork Sauk River trail and then heading south on the PCT to Steven’s Pass. About 49 miles total and 9,000+ elevation gain. Bugs were horrible, flowers and views were spectacular!

Day 1: North Fork Sauk to White Pass. road is incredibly rough, you have to take it slow but we saw some sedans up there including a car with a flat tire. The trail to the Makinsaw shelter gains slowly and is fairly nice. There are some campsites right around red creek. The log bridge is missing some of the railings. Makinsaw shelter has lots of nice campsites and this is your last good spot for water until you get out of the switchbacks. The switchbacks are hard. They are fairly steep and short with a few long running ones. We stopped anywhere there was shade and found plenty of good rocks to sit on and catch our breath. Once you are out of the switchbacks, you skirt the side of the mountain in open meadows. So many flowers blooming. It would take too long to name them all but the most exciting was the yellow paintbrush. There are a few streams in this area that you can fill up at. At the streams, there are hundreds of butterflies. Mostly the little blue butterflies. We stayed our first night at white pass camp which has a toilet and water. Bugs were horrible.

Day 2: we left White Pass for Pear Lake. This was a little over 20 miles. The trail is very nice. Lots of easy downhill to Indian Pass. After Indian Pass you gain slowly into Dishpan Gap and Lake Sally Ann. We filled up at Lake Sally Ann and then headed down to Pass Creek. At Pass Creek we stopped for an hour to rest before heading up to Saddle Gap. We filled up with water here. Going down into Pear Lake was steep and very rocky. There is no signage for Pear Lake. Pear Lake had horrible bugs as well even though it was windy.

Day 3 we headed for Lake Valhalla. Going up to Grizzly Peak is not bad but the trail is very overgrown. Many places you have to watch your step. Lots of roots, rocks and marmot holes to deal with and a few areas that the trail is eroding away. Great Views of Glacier Peak up at Grizzly Peak. There is one point that the trail is so overgrown with flowers that you really have to push your way through. Lots of mountain huckleberries taking over the trail, too. We went down to Lake Janus before heading to Lake Valhalla. Lots of people at Lake Valhalla and lots of mosquitos but not as bad as elsewhere.

Day 4: Lake Valhalla to Stevens Pass. An easy day to finish. Trail here is very nice. Flowers blooming but not as many as higher up.

We saw about a dozen marmots, 5 pikas, deer, frogs, hundred of butterflies, chipmunks and Canadian Jays. So many flowers including red and yellow paintbrush, red columbine, fireweed, alpine daisies, Lorax flowers and so on. Mostly just mountain huckleberries were ripe.

TLDR

It goes!! But this route is not for the faint of heart, the Lost Creek Ridge trail is gorgeous but brutal, crossing the White Chuck River is a game of luck, and you’re far from help if anything goes awry. If you don’t have route finding experience and aren’t willing to bushwhack for ~1 mile, I’d suggest doing another hike.

!! There are also some fires raging in the Suiattle drainage that might complicate the Lost Creek Ridge, so be sure to check in with USFS before attempting this loop !!

Overview

3 of us were looking to do some sort of 30ish mile, 2 night loop along the mountain loop highway. While looking on the map we saw what looked like a winner, Lost Creek Ridge to the junction with the PCT near Kennedy Creek, then linking up with the N Fork Sauk. But hopes were abated when we read the trip report on WTA and some reports from NWhikers.net that the bridge over the White Chuck River had been swept away a little over 20 years ago and the trail hadn’t been maintained past Round Lake (~4 miles in) since. We read a report from August of last year who found a blowdown that spanned the river and was able to cross so we thought we’d try our luck and at least report our findings back to the community.

Itinerary

• Day 1: Lost Creek Ridge TH → Lake Byrne (10 mi, 5,500 ft gain)
• Day 2: Lake Byrne → Mackinaw Shelter (15 mi, 5,000 ft gain)
• Day 3: Mackinaw Shelter → North Fork Sauk TH (5.25 mi)

Day 1

We were able to meet a buddy for a car shuttle to go between the 2 trailheads at around 8 am and we hit the trail shortly afterwards. The grade up to Round Lake was way nicer than expected, it looked like a really gorgeous place to hang out and go for a swim on a sweltering day, but we resisted the urge knowing we had quite a few miles left to go to reach our destination, Lake Byrne. The trail after Round Lake is mostly exposed and easy to follow but spends most of the time either ascending or descending, not much flat trail 😣 There were still several streams that were running fairly swiftly so water wasn’t a huge issue, but I can’t imagine they’ll be running past mid August. We made it to Lake Byrne pretty gassed at around 6:30 pm. Camp Lake and Lake Byrne are both STUNNING. We saw tons of alpine trout swimming around in these lakes, should have brought our fishing poles!

Day 2

This is when the real adventure began. We started our descent into the White Chuck river valley with varying levels of optimism. The trail loses ~3k feet in 1.5 miles, zoinks!! We batted our way through the brush and clambered over/under/around >50 blowdowns (we lost count lol). The descent took us a solid 2.5 hours. After getting close enough to see the river the trail disappears (approximate coordinates: 48.11857, -121.19714), but now begins the fun game of finding a safe way across. We got endlessly lucky and found a copse of trees that had succumbed to the eroding river, creating a great bridge across the mighty White Chuck river! (approximate coordinates: 48.11982, -121.19648)

After some celebratory sour patch gummies we forged onward. We had to cross a fork of Kennedy creek to reconnect with the Lost Creek Ridge trail towards the PCT. Our GPS was obviously our best friend here, and after scrambling straight up ~120 ft we were able to link back up with the Lost Creek Ridge trail. After another 2 miles of rough, heavily eroded trail we reached the junction with the PCT! What a relief.

We CRUISED on the PCT, which seemed like a highway compared to Lost Creek Ridge, for a comparatively easy ~5 miles, passing through the stunning Glacier Peak meadows. There were a few campsites there and plenty of running water, but we were feeling good so we decided to push on and see if we could get down to the Sauk River. We continued another 4 miles to the junction with the N Fork Sauk river trail and another ~3 miles down to the first campsite near Mackinaw shelter.

We had been hiking for an astounding 13 hours and had only seen 3 people over the last 2 days, so pitching a tent at the relatively crowded Mackinaw campsite was kinda reassuring!

Day 3

After a lazy morning we breezed down the rest of the N fork Sauk, a gradual, winding 5ish miles among towering old growth cedar and douglas fir and the roar of the Sauk river.

I took a three-day trip up near Glacier Peak this week. This is the sixth year in a row that I’ve visited this area in summer, but I wanted to explore a bit more this year so I expanded the route into a loop of Pilot Ridge and Johnson Mountain which I’ve had an eye on for years.

I got a late start on Wednesday afternoon due to having to wait for some car work to be completed. I finally started out on the trail just before 5pm. I was thrilled to turn off the too-familiar N. Fork Sauk Trail after two miles and cross the river to ascend Pilot Ridge and experience something new. The log you cross is in decent shape and I had no issues crossing. The ascent up Pilot Ridge was pretty brutal. You gain 3000+ feet in 3 miles so an average of 20% grade. I was questioning my decision to run 8 miles that morning as my legs did not feel fresh. Once you complete this climb the trail becomes a bit more reasonable. The ridge looks pretty forested from what I’d seen, so I wasn’t sure what to expect view-wise, but things open up pretty nicely with great westward views. There was a bit of snow on the trail at the top of the first climb, but nothing that slowed me down too much.

With the light fading I continued along the ridge towards Johnson Mountain. I briefly got on the trail up to Johnson Mountain due to snow covering the fork, but thankfully my watch alerted me to the issue before I burned too much of the remaining daylight. I was a bit concerned about trying to find a campsite at Blue Lake, but thankfully there was a decent spot right next to the lake that had obviously only melted out days before. Unbeknownst to me I’d set up camp within a hundred feet of someone else whose tent was obscured by trees and I was a bit surprised when a headlamp popped on. I quickly set up my tent and got some much-needed rest.

I woke up before dawn and retraced my steps to ascend Johnson Mountain. Even with a backpack relieved of its heavier items the climb seemed a bit rough, but it was well worth it for the views. I descended, packed up camp and headed out over the pass to Bald Eagle Trail and eventually the PCT. The snow above Blue Lake was a bit worse than I’d seen thus far, but nothing too difficult to navigate.

The PCT to White Pass had a decent amount of snow covering, but again nothing concerning. I’d made a last-minute choice to leave my heavy microspikes in the car and nothing this week made me regret that choice. I’d done this section before, but over a month later in the year, so it was interesting to compare.

From a wildlife perspective the difference was surprisingly stark. In August there were quite a few birds moving around, but they were apparently mostly post-breeding dispersals and migrants. In July only breeding birds were present and they were sparse but quite vocal. The hoots of male Sooty Grouse were almost ubiquitous, as were Pine Siskins. Chipping Sparrows and Dark-eyed Junco’s frustrated me to no end with their identical songs. Lazuli Buntings are known to breed up at elevations this high, but always seem out of place compared to the habitat I find them in down at more reasonable elevations. Perhaps the most shocking find was the nearly complete absence of raptors. In August, Coopers and Sharped-shinned hawks have been a frequent site and I even photographed a young American Goshawk near Indian Head Peak in 2020. Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, and multiple species of falcons have also been frequent sights. On this clear day I don’t think I saw a single raptor.

At White Pass I veered east on the Foam Creek trail. This trail is well-used by climbers headed for Glacier Peak but had probably a dozen snow bridges over seasonal creeks that made traversal a bit sketchy. The final section, where you climb a short, steep pass to cross into the Glacier Peak Basin was completely snow covered and had no obvious best route so I elected to cross the snow and made my best push up over the top.

Once in the Glacier Peak Basin the snow arguably became a help more than a hinderance. On downhill and flat sections, it was a lot easier to traverse sloppy snow than the rocky terrain hidden below it. My usual campsites were all covered in snow and the few rocky sites that were exposed were unsuitable for a trekking pole tent. I finally found a suitable site towards the south side of the basin.

Once I had camp set up I wandered around in hopes of finding White-tailed Ptarmigan. I’d figured they’d be easier to find with snow covering up most of their habitat here, but that proved not to not be the case. In August and September, they’re often in vocal groups with a mom and young, but I’m guessing the mom’s are mostly on eggs right now. I did eventually stumble on to one bird that I’m assuming was from last-year’s brood based on plumage.

At some point I became aware that some Hoary Marmot’s were letting loose with a lot of alarm calls somewhere down the drainage towards White Mountain. I was aware from a trip report in late June that a Wolverine was in the area. I encountered two Wolverine’s here in 2018 and was hopeful that I might repeat that experience some day. I became suspicious of the source of the Marmot’s agitation and moved in that direction as quickly as I could given the terrain. After a long time of scanning, I finally spotted a Wolverine moving across the snowfield only a short distance from my 2018 sighting. I attempted to get closer to it but lost it as it apparently headed down the White-chuck drainage.

The next morning, I poked around the basin a bit before moving on. Once again, I was surprised to find birds a lot sparser than August, with a single Horned Lark the only new species for the trip and no more Ptarmigan seen. One unexpected highlight this early in the season were the American Pipits. In late summer this species is everywhere up here, and you get quite sick of looking at them hoping for something less common, but there were only a few up here at this time of year and they were still in breeding mode. In places with trees, singing males will typically find the highest perch and sing their hearts out, but species in habitats without trees are forced to make their own elevation. These American Pipits fly a hundred feet or more into the sky and sing their hearts out before finally descending back to the ground.

I woke up Friday morning to the sound of Ptarmigan “Scream” calls at first light. Once I finally willed myself out of my warm bed and out into the cold I was greeted by a Mountain Goat which had presumably come down to get a morning drink. I’ve seen what I presume are goat tracks on many occasions up here, but I’ve never actually seen a goat until this trip. I’m not sure where they hang out, but this one seemed to all but evaporate once I lost sight of it behind some rocks.

Glacier Peak had been shrouded in what looked suspiciously like smoke at sunset on Thursday, but when I woke Friday the smell of smoke was obvious. Thankfully it seemed to clear out throughout the day and didn’t impact the rest of my trip.  After packing up I headed down to Glacier Peak Meadows, which is always a highlight of any trip to this area. The disappearance of this trail from official maps means it remains a tranquil spot even during the peak of the season, but I do lament that it’s missed by so many people. Based on snow crossings I appeared to be the first person to walk it this year. The snow continued to be a mixed blessing. My trail runners were wet, but I was able to replace some rocky, steep descents with glissading.

The fork of the White Chuck River that comes down from Red Pass was running much higher than when I usually come up here. I walked for some time hoping to find the right set of rocks to keep my feet dry, but finally gave up and just got my feet soaked. I hit the PCT and climbed up to Red Pass. The snow crossings in this area were the most annoying of the trip and post holing happened quite a bit. It was strange to be up here when it’s so deserted since in August it’s common to pass half a dozen or more NOBO section and through hikers on there way north.

At Red Pass I stashed my bag and went and tagged Portal Peak. The route was snow free all the way to the top and it was a nice vantage point to relive my day on the Painted Traverse last summer. I don’t know what the protocol is on peak registers, but this one continues to be in terrible shape. The notebook doesn’t quite fit back inside the pipe so the outer sheets get messed up every time it’s used and nothing from the last year or so was readable. It’d be nice to get a new notebook or maybe even a slightly larger pipe up there.

I’d intended on staying out one more night, but I needed to be back to pick my dog up from the kennel by noon and had accomplished everything I’d wanted to on this trip so I decided sleeping in my bed sounded better than setting up a tent and camping again. I meandered around the White Pass campground and ate my dinner next to a very unflappable Sooty Grouse before heading back towards the trailhead. I did my best to hustle and made it back to my car just before sunset.

This hike is better known as a main access point for the Glacier Peak Wilderness.  In the early season it stands on its own as a first rate old growth forest hike.

The dirt part of Mountain Loop Drive is in excellent condition.  You could probably drive it with a low slung sports car. The 6.8 mile NF-49 to the trailhead was definitely rougher.  There were plenty of potholes.

I started the hike with a 2.4 mile roundtrip to the Red Mountain Lookout site.  There were several windfall to negotiate on this trail but nothing too difficult. The viewpoint looks down on the main North Fork Sauk Valley. There's also a view of Sloan Peak but the peak was in the clouds today.

The old growth along the main NFS trail is a real pleasure. There are some good sized Doug Fir in the first few hundred yards. Red Cedar then dominates for the next mile.  Some of the trees are probably pushing 11 feet in diameter.  The trees started getting smaller around mile 2 so I turned around.

5.8 mi RT. 1400 ft.