This is hands down my favorite area on the Mountain Loop Highway. There are several trails up FSR 49 that leaves the actual Mountain Loop from just north of the Bedal campground. The area is remote, green, has tons of big trees, lots of moss and a river running through the valley. It offers some of the best examples of what a Western Washington forest is in my opinion. My friend is having surgery soon, wanted an overnight experience and to see some pretty sights so off we went to this outta the way place on Saturday afternoon. We approached from the south side of Mountain Loop and cleared Barlow Pass onto the dirt portion of the road. All in all the roads aren't bad but there are some nasty sections of potholes on the loop and FSR 49 that leads up the North Fork Sauk River. We saw plenty of cars on the road so if you take your time you'll have no trouble reaching your destination. The North Fork Sauk Trailhead parking area was full when we arrived late Saturday afternoon. Most of the hikers were on overnights to the PCT according to the trail register. It must be true because we saw just 2 hikers when arriving at camp and that's all we saw the whole time on the North Fork Trail. We took it easy on the trail looking to simply relax in the forest versus laying miles down. We hiked the 2ish miles to the established camp spot at the spur for the Pilot Ridge Trail. With summer growth in full swing it wasn't easy to see the river but you could hear it! We set up camp then walked another half mile or so up the trail enjoying the big trees, moss and river views along the way. Back at camp we started a small fire and enjoyed a big bottle of the homebrew blackberry hard cider I made as the sun went down. In the morning we lingered, loaded up and made our way out but our adventure wasn't over yet. We stopped at the Harold Engles Memorial Cedar which is one of the largest cedars I've ever seen and then at North Fork Sauk Falls. Be careful at the falls, there's not a lot of room at the viewing area and one misstep could prove disastrous. The falls were moving pretty good, even with the low snow pack and were loud. All the trails were in great shape with no obstacles but North Fork Sauk was brushy in places. It was a great way to spend some time in the forest with a good friend.

A buddy of mine and I made a quick jaunt up the North Fork Sauk River trail to the PCT and then briefly south to White Pass to check trail conditions for an upcoming climb of Glacier Peak. The trail starts at Sloan Creek Campground and wanders through impressive old growth forest to Mackinaw Shelter. There were a few muddy spots and a couple of downed trees on the way to the shelter, but nothing all that noticeable. From the shelter to the PCT the trail gets down to business climbing switchbacks and there are a couple more downed trees. For the most part you are out of the woods so you will have nice views of the valley as you are climbing. The flowers are also starting to pop out as well which makes for a nice distraction for those who enjoy that sort of thing. There are two snow crossings about 1/4 mile before the junction with the PCT. Neither are long and there are good boot tracks across, but they are steep and a slip will result in a very long fall. If the snow becomes icy, crampons or some sort of traction might be a good idea, and an ice ax is highly recommended. The first crossing also has a lot of water running underneath and it looked like someone had already punched through with a foot. I think it's safe to say that crossing will become more dangerous within the next week or so as the snow gets thinner. Another reason to bring an ax is to get a better sense on how thin the bridges are. I couple of times I'd stick the shaft of the ax in and it would go right through. From the PCT junction to White Pass, there is a lot of running water as well as 5 or 6 snow crossing. A couple of them are pretty steep with water running underneath, others are easily crossed and aren't undercut. Just be careful. White Pass is pretty much covered in snow although it was hard to tell because we couldn't see more than 100 feet or so in front of us. Overall, a great hike and it's spectacular in clear weather! White Pass makes a great overnight destination. Sorry about the absence of pictures, it was wet and we couldn't really see much anyway. 18 miles 8 hours, car to car We took the Mountain Loop Highway from the north. It is in great condition and only a few potholes. FS-49 to the trailhead is a different story. Lots of potholes all over the place and some of them were pretty deep. My higher clearance vehicle did fine, just dive slower if you are driving a sedan. Near the trailhead there was a short section of road that had been covered by debris from a creek. It was rough but I think passable by most if not all vehicles.

Nicely off the beaten path. There were a few cars in the lot, but we didn't really see anyone the whole day. A skier left ahead of us for a couple days up higher and we saw one pair on their way back to their car. Other than that only the wildlife. The trail is in great shape. Minimally muddy and no blowdowns until you get near to the shelter, where there are a couple that can easily clambered over. There's a tiny bit of snow, but nothing that can't be stepped around easily and will likely be all gone after these warm few days. All of the stream crossings were easily done with no wet feet. The road into the trailhead is mostly just potholed, but there are two rather rocky places where a stream had been, so low clearance vehicles will need to be quite careful (you can do it… there was a very low car there, but it had some signs the owner had bottomed out before)

Overall 12mi RT 850m ascent (estimated). New hiking buddy chose this location. Very hilly, so the overall ascent far exceeds the actual gain in elevation. The weather was acceptable, the trail suitably dry, but it took a bit of driving to get here. There were still 'car prowl' signs at the TH despite this being so far off the road. There were only a few people on the trail, though we passed quite a few on our return journey. Our plan was to turn around at the lower shelter (Makinaw) but we were going strong and did not notice it when we passed. Fortunately, after having made it 100m up the hill, we decided to break for food and a checking of the map, and decided we were done for the day. On the return, the shelter appeared. There is sufficient tree cover near the TH, at lower elevations, to block GPS signals.

I tried this trail a couple months ago in the midst of a torrential downpour, and ultimately turned back before reaching the trailhead because I was concerned about getting stuck on the wrong side of a road washout. Forest Road 49 (the final road to the trailhead) was in much better shape this time around. No rivers/streams washing over the road. Just a few potholes that you can navigate with a sedan if you’re willing to go slow. Oh, and speaking of roads, many of the potholes in the gravel section of the Mountain Loop Hwy have been filled! All in all, the drive took less time than I anticipated. There’s something about the North Fork Sauk trail that I really like. There are no spectacular views, but that hardly matters on a grey and misty day. The trail is in amazingly good condition, with miles and miles of moss-lined gently rolling single track. Running here was a pleasure. I’m excited to go back this summer and explore White Pass, Red Pass, and Pilot Ridge. However, yesterday I simply went to the Mackinaw Shelter and back. 12 miles total, but it felt much shorter as the miles flew by. A couple more pics here: http://evergreenendurance.com/2015/04/08/trip-report-north-fork-sauk-river/