This loop involved a 3 mile road walk from the Lost Creek Ridge trailhead to the North fork of the Sauk trailhead. We had originally planned on starting after work on Friday and doing the 3 mile road walk and the 5 mile hike to the Mackinaw shelter but horrible labor day traffic lead to getting to the Sauk trailhead around 6pm. We only got 4 miles down the trail before the sun set. We set up camp next to a bridge with a few nice campsites that other people were camping at.

We woke up at 5am the next morning and completed the last mile to the Mackinaw shelter in the dark. It was forecasted as a 90 degree day so we wanted to get up to Red pass as early as possible to avoid the heat. The switchbacks were a nice easy grade and we hit the PCT Red pass/White pass junction and then Red pass in no time where we got our first views of Glacier peak. There was surprisingly little snow on the mountain. We considered going up into Foam basin but since we had gone there last year and we noticed a couple of small tarns on the map next to the White Chuck Cinder Cone we decided to go in that direction instead. We followed the PCT until it got near the Cinder Cone and then went left off trail for a couple hundred feet until we reached the Cinder cone and a beautiful small lake sized tarn with large flat sandy shores. We summited the Cinder cone (a super easy walk up), swam in the tarn (still pretty cold!) and relaxed on the sandy shores for a while. Since it was still pretty early in the day and we had energy we decided to continue on rather than camp at the gorgeous tarn. Another group had arrived to camp in that area too so it didn’t feel quite as secluded anymore.

The terrain looked easy on the other side of the Cinder cone so we chose to go up and over the Cinder cone, trying to see if we could cut off a section of the PCT, bypassing Glacier meadows camp, and rejoin it further down. This was a huge mistake and lead to a lot of unnecessary steep bushwhacking! We eventually met back up with the trail in a nice meadow area. The large and small biting flies were out in force in this area so we hurried on. We passed lots of nice campsites for the first mile or two and then they disappeared for a while as the trail started to descend. We found a nice cluster of campsites next to a creek and bridge about 3-4 miles away from the Lost creek ridge junction, similar to our first nights campsite, and chose to camp there.

We started around 7am the next morning and continued on to the junction for lost creek ridge. The trail gets pretty muddy in places and you can smell sulfur from one of the creeks. I also got a nasty horse or deerfly bite in that area. There is a sign at the first junction saying that the trail is abandoned and to continue on to the “new” trail 7/10’s of a mile away so that was what we did. The “new” trail going down to the river was very eroded on a steep hillside, there was one section of it that had completely washed away! Luckily that section was a switchback so we didn’t have to figure out how to get around it. There were also tons of really bad blowdowns to crawl over and under while trying not to slip and slide down the hillside. We finally got down to the river. The trail gets very faint at the end and I imagine it would be very difficult to find if you were going the opposite direction. We chose to switch to camp shoes and ford the river. It was pretty swift and about thigh high water but it was manageable as long as you go slow. We had to use our ruffwear harness with a handle to get our 40lb dog across it.

After we crossed the river we searched around for the Kennedy hot springs. There were cairns all over the area and we followed them for about 100ft up river to the hot springs. They were a bubbling nasty algae mess! And about luke warm. Although nasty they were worth checking out. We walked back to where we crossed the river and followed cairns and a few orange markers back into the woods. The trail is extremely faint at first and angles right before becoming more defined and going straight up to lake Byrne. There were some more blowdowns to climb over but not as bad as the trail going down to the river.

It was another 90 degree day and it really slowed our progress as the trail became more open as it got closer to lake Byrne. Blueberries were everywhere! We eventually popped out by the outlet and got our first sight of the enormous beautiful lake. We ran straight down to the water to swim and fish. The water was still pretty cold but felt amazing after such a hot hike and John caught 5 fish within a hour. There were a couple campsites but they were all high up above the water so after a few hours at the lake we decided to continue on to camp lake. The only 2 good sites were taken at Camp lake so we camped on a flat spot next to the outlet.

The next morning we made blueberry pancakes with our skillet and the wild blueberries (delicious!) and then started down the Lost creek ridge trail at around 7:30am. We passed Hardtack lake which reminded me of boiling lake on the golden lakes loop out by Twisp. Not nearly as epic and nice as Byrne or Camp lakes but still a nice place to relax and cool off. It had a large flat sandy shores area, similar to the White Chuck Cinder Cone tarn, that would have been good to camp at. The lost creek ridge trail goes up and down for miles and there are only a few small trickling creeks to get water from. We chose to go off trail and take the trail that goes up 200ft to Sunup lake to get water and swim one more time before we started our decent. There are 1-2 nice spots to camp at Sunup lake, if you are camping in the area I’d recommend going to down Round lake which is much larger and more beautiful than Sunup, we camped down there 2 years ago when we did Breccia peak.

We passed quite a few people on the long decent and finally reached the trailhead around 2pm. Now it was time for the 3 mile road walk back to the car. We hadn’t realized that the road goes slightly uphill the whole time, ugh! The gravel road was also much harder on our feet than the soft dirt trail had been. It was a miserable 3 miles back to the car. After we got back and started driving back down the road we noticed a couple we had passed a day ago who were also walking the road that had done the loop in the opposite direction. We picked both of them up and drove them to their car to spare them the road walk. I would definitely recommend getting the road walk out of the way at the beginning if you can! Other than that this was a great loop with beautiful lakes and awesome close up views of Glacier peak.

Needless to say the "snow covered" part under snow conditions refers to Glacier Peak, not the North Fork Sauk River. North Fork Sauk River is a beautiful old growth trail with humongous trees and hanging moss. There are a few campsites 4.5 miles in (there is one sneaky campsite like 2.5 miles in) and many more at the Mackinaw Shelter ~5.5 miles in. The trail is a mellow, rolling trail that's very well maintained. Past Mackinaw you have ~3 miles of switchbacks, yay! I was glad we knocked these out in the shade because coming down in the sun was brutal and I don't want to know what it'd have been like going up. Towards the top you break above the trees, Sloan and the Monte Cristos will make your jaw drop, and blueberries about and the air smells like pie. White Pass has spectacular campsites, Foam Creek/White River valley looks amazing, and you finally get a glimpse of Glacier Peak. Yeah it looks far, don't panic. The White Chuck Basin is totally neat, crazy to think it was covered by glaciers just a few years ago (okay, maybe like 30 years ago). The traverse is fairly flat with some minor ups and downs. There are campsites here as well and tons of running water as well as some neat tarns and recently formed glacier lakes. Glacier Gap is where we camped. No running water, so stock up on the way down from the peak unless you want to have to walk to a snow patch and melt snow (I'm lazy, so I did not). From Glacier Gap you cross one more saddle where you drop to the ridge and follow that to the Gerdine Glacier, which is still in good shape besides the nasty rock fall coming off Disappointment Peak (think microwave to car sized boulders, yuck). There's some exposed ice crossing to the Cool Glacier, which is more open than the Gerdine. Consider roping up here if you haven't already. It's a quick climb to the final ridge, where you can stash all the snow/glacier gear and slog up sand-dune like scree and talus to the summit. There's a snow patch, but it can be skirted and there's enough of a staircase kicked into it that crampons are unnecessary. <2 hours to Mackinaw shelter, ~7 hours from shelter to Glacier Gap, 4 hours from Glacier Gap to summit. 2 hours back to Glacier Gap, 7 hours from Glacier Gap back to trailhead. More pictues and details in the blog.

Glacier Wilderness hike 8/14-17, 2017

From August 14th to 17th we made a loop around Red and Black mountains and Portal and Skullcap peaks using trails 649 (North Fork of the Sauk Trail), PCT and 646.01 (Lost Creek Ridge Trail). Our overall impression of the trip was that it is a very spectacular place but we didn’t get to experience it as well as it deserved. The trails spent too much time down in the trees for us to learn the topography as well as we would have liked. And, some of the time while we were up high, it was cloudy, which hid the peaks. However, the trees were enormous and spectacular with a lot of species diversity and the clouds were equally spectacular and we witnessed two gorgeous sunsets and sunrises. The hills are long and steep and the trails gain and lose elevation as if you are OK with that. There are not very many established campsites, so it can be hard to find a flat spot where you won’t damage plants. Trail maintenance is lacking in many places. Water availability was good.
We started up trail 649 at the North Fork of the Sauk trailhead at 11:45 on the 14th and made quick progress up the well-groomed trail through the massive Douglas firs and Western hemlocks reaching the Mackinaw shelter by 2:30. Because it was early, we undertook the 26 switch backs up 3000 feet to the PCT. The heavenly breeze felt like it was coming off a snow field. Still, we sweated buckets. We made camp just before Red Pass, around 7, and watched a sunset of pink and gold behind Sloan Peak followed by pink vapors drifting down to fill the valleys. The stars and then a half moon lit up the valleys of white clouds below and peaks above.
On Tuesday we hiked over Red Pass and along the PCT surrounded by awesome peaks and meadows of wild flowers to the warning shrieks of hoary marmots. All too soon the PCT enters the trees and we were deprived of Glacier Peak views.
We intended to take White Chuck Trail 643.1 to Kennedy Hot Springs. We came to a trail junction for Trail 643 which had a temporary sign over it saying that Trail 643 was abandoned and that there was a new and improved trail in 7/10 of a mile. In addition, there was a sign 50 feet down Trail 643 which also said 643 was abandoned and there was a better trail 1/4 mile past Sitkum Creek. We walked on and came to the presumed Sitkum Creek and went beyond for what seemed like a quarter of a mile and found no trail. Did we both experience temporary blindness when we came to the new trail or was the trail junction buried beneath fallen trees? We don’t know. We didn’t go back to look for it since there was an alternate, although longer route. We continued on the PCT intending to take Trail 639, the Kennedy Ridge Trail. The PCT in this area is not well-maintained; a lot of blow-down, some of it huge, but passable. The trail makes its way down a long hill to Kennedy Creek. The bridge over the creek is broken, but still works. The trail starts up the other side of the creek and after a half mile or so the junction for PCT and the Kennedy Ridge Trail was right where the map said it should be. The Kennedy Ridge Trail looks like it hasn’t been maintained since it was created. But you can still follow it. It leads down to the confluence of brown Kennedy Creek and bluish white White Chuck River. In the area around the river there aren’t really trails, but there are blue plastic ribbons tied to various things and some cairns which tell you which way to go. That evening, as it was getting dark, we scouted out the creek and river crossings and what looked like the beginning of the Lost Creek Trail. We camped on the flood plain and enjoyed another fabulous night sky. In the morning, we did not leave camp until 10, which was a mistake. Crossing the creek and river were both easy enough on large logs. The beginning of the trail 646.01, Lost Creek Ridge Trail, was marked with a pink ribbon and cairns. We went a short distance up the trail and it went into a large bog. We got through and around that but had no idea where the trail went. There were some scuff marks on the ground which looked like other hikers had been this way so we followed them up the now extremely steep hill. The scuff marks we started following soon disappeared and we debated going back down and trying to find the trail. In hindsight, I think we should have done that. But we were reluctant to give up the elevation we had gained and continued to claw and scratch our way up the cliff for 2 hours. Then, as soon as the slope moderated slightly, the trail reappeared out from under a fallen tree and continued up quite steeply, with another fallen tree or two every few feet. The trail finally got up to where the trees thinned out and the peaks reappeared but it stayed quite steep to Lake Byrne. Byrne is spectacular, but we didn’t stay long because so much time had passed getting there and it was raining lightly. Camp Lake was smaller, but beautiful. Clear water below sheer cliffs. That night we found a spot to camp on a flat promontory just west of Hardtack Lake. The middle and top of Glacier peak was covered by clouds and the sunset made for a color show.
In the morning the valleys were filled with white clouds as the sun rose behind Glacier’s peak. As the sun warmed the early morning clouds we were enveloped in fog. Consequently we missed the views of the peaks; the trees and clouds were the view. The ridge trail has a lot of ups and downs and a fair amount of blow down. We reached Sunup Lake by 11 and had lunch. Round Lake by 2 and then down 3000 feet of switch backs to reach the Lost Creek Trailhead by 4:15, then walked back up to the North Fork Sauk Trailhead where we were parked. We lost our red knife at the Lost Creek Trail head. How appropriate is that!
When we got down to the trailhead we talked to an old-timer who told us that the trail from Kennedy hot springs has not existed since the 1980’s. There is some truth to that but people are still going that way because we saw their footprints. I just hope they are doing it better than we did it.

We did a 5-day backpack, starting at the Sauk River Road trailhead, climbing to the PCT near White Mountain, then hiking south on the PCT to Stevens Pass.

Day 1: From the parking lot at the end of FS road 49 - Sauk River trailhead, we hiked 5.5 miles to the campsite at the old Mackinaw Shelter. The shelter itself is no longer usable, but there are numerous tentsites, easy access to water, and a camp toilet. The lower part of the trail has been recently maintained. There are brushy sections in the last 2 miles to camp.

Day 2: From camp, the trail climbs steadily 3,000' in just under 3 miles to the junction with the PCT. The trail is in good condition. Water is available about 2.5 miles from Mackinaw. At the PCT, we hiked south, finding another good water source within 0.1 mile of the junction. Water is also available north of Indian Pass. We hiked to Lake Sally Ann this day. We encountered numerous black flies, which become a major nuisance at every stop. These conditions continued for the entire trip. The lake has excellent tentsites & a camp toilet.

Day 3: From Lake Sally Ann, the trail south eventually drops to a low point at the Pass Creek campsite - good reliable stream here. We continued to camp at Pear Lake, which has several large campsites, plus 2 camp toilets.

Day 4: NOTE: from Pear Lake to Janus Lake, about 9 miles, there is no reliable water along the trail. About 0.3 miles south of Janus Lake, there's an excellent stream. We continued south to camp near Lake Valhalla, with a choice of several campsites. The daytime black flies were replaced with evening mosquitoes throughout the entire route: take a headset or suffer horribly...

Day 5: We continued south to Stevens Pass. There are several water sources along this stretch, including Nason Creek.

In general: the PCT is mostly in good condition. We encountered occasional recent blowdowns, with only a couple being somewhat difficult to cross. Some trail segments are heavily grown over with brush, but don't present a serious obstacle. Weather conditions were difficult: lots of smoke from forest fires, poor visibility, no breeze, high temperatures.

This is a spectacularly beautiful hike, however the miles (34) and elevation gain (9400’) for this trip do not begin to convey how strenuous it feels, especially in the hot smoky weather we have been having.   

 

We did a simple 3 day itinerary.

Day 1: 10.5 miles and 5000’ gain to Glacier basin.

Day 2: 13 miles round trip and 4000’ gain to the summit and back to camp.

Day 3: hike out, about 400’ gain over the small ups and downs.

 

The first day was the hardest, especially the fly torture between the Mackinaw shelter and White Pass. I recommend bringing Picardin, which works better than DEET against flies, and also wearing lightweight long sleeves and long pants for this stretch. We soaked our shirts in every stream to stay cool. Once beyond White Pass both the flies and the trail steepness mellowed out and the hike into Glacier Basin was incredibly beautiful and enjoyable. The next day we left at 5:30 for the summit. There is a fairly easy to follow trail the whole way with varied, spectacular scenery, and we hardly needed to look at our map or GPS. We roped up in a flat spot once we left Disappointment Cleaver for the glacier.  We saw some who did not rope up, but I think roping up and having crevasse rescue training and gear is definitely prudent. Even though the section with crevasses is fairly short, and the crevasses near the trail do not seem very wide, some crevasses are hidden and crossed on snow bridges of unknown strength.   We left the rope behind for the last 1000’ up the ridge of slidy pumice and snow. Crampons can be left on the whole way, as they are needed for the steep snow near the summit and are fine on the pumice too. Views were smoky but  spectacular anyway. There is a pool of liquid water at the summit in case you need to refill your water—bring a filter. There is also a summit tent site, and a Mazama’s register. There is even a kite. On the last day we left camp at 5:30 am which allowed us to get down before the flies got hungry and gave us time to feast on the ripe blueberries below White Pass.

 

Thoroughly recommended—when you reach the trailhead, bring a change of clothes, head down to the river and take a dip. So refreshing.