SW of Glacier Peak there is a large basin that used to be covered by the White Chuck Glacier. The glacier has retreated far up the mountain though, which leaves a surreal landscape of tarns, gullies, and large rocks spread out. It's a beautiful place that can be visited with a backpacking trip of 3 or more days, and despite the stunning landscape you can still find solitude here. We did this as a 3 day trip, spending one day in the basin. If I would do this trip again, I would probably try to go 4 days. There is a lot to see, and we didn't get to visit some parts that looked really nice. As a 3-day trip, it is still great though. The only thing I would suggest not to do is to camp at White Pass and quickly run in and out of the White Chuck basin, because that would not do the area justice. It is great to camp in the basin, explore the area, and enjoy the different light with sunrise and sunset. The first day we hiked from the North Fork Sauk trailhead to White Pass, the Foam Creek Trail, and into the White Chuck basin. We camped in area with a great view of Glacier Peak and White Chuck Glacier, with nice tarns and almost no vegetation. We originally intended to camp somewhere on the Foam Creek, but we pushed a bit too far, with nicer and nicer camp spots just around the next corner. The first day ended up being 14 mile. The trail to White Pass is obviously in great condition. Views gradually open up on the Monte Cristos, Sloan Peak and later Indian Heak Peak, Mt. Stuart, Daniel, and a bit of Rainier. The Foam Creek trail is also in pretty good shape. The trail is a little bit washed out in some of the gullies, but this should not be a problem for most hikers, in particular not with poles. The Foam Creek trail has fantastic views on the White River valley and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. It takes 3 ridges to get into the White Chuck basin from the Foam Creek trail. The trail from the Foam Creek trail up the first ridge is clearly indicated, and in fact the Foam Creek trail stops almost immediately after the split, never actually reaching Foam Creek. On top of this first ridge you get the first view of Glacier Peak, and you have an awesome view in the distance on the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and Rainier. The descent from the first ridge still keeps you in the White River drainage, entering the valley of the Foam Creek and is nasty steep. This would definitely not qualify as a normal hiking trail. On the road back, we decided to explore an alternative route around the ridge (see the track). Initially we staid a bit low assuming that we would hit Foam Creek trail (we didn't know yet that it stopped), so we had to climb up a bit back to trail once we concluded that it was not there. This detour is easy and would prevent the steep terrain. The climb up the second ridge out of the Foam Creek valley is unpleasant as well. It is steep, loose gravel without good swithbacks. It's better than the previous descent though and probably not an issue for experienced hikers, but I'd be nervous with kids there. From the top of this second ridge you see the first high alpine basin, with mostly just tarns, rocks, and snow. On the left there is a nice view on the White Chuck Cinder Cone and the Red Pass. The third ridge that finally brings you to the White Chuck basin is easy, just rocky. We camped in the flat area after this ridge. There are several spots with rock walls, plenty of water and no lack of views. The second day we left our tent behind and did a small loop in the White Chuck Glacier basin, originally intending a fairly big loop to Glacier Gap and the big tarns at 6433 feet. This turned out to be a bit too ambitious because of the long previous day, and we wanted to spend the second night a bit closer to White Pass to make the 3rd day out easier. The day hike in the basin was still absolutely stunning though. We first hiked by the bottom of the White Chuck Glacier, which I can highly recommend, in particular in the morning sun. We walked in the direction of Glacier Gap, eventually turning around and descending to the big muddy lake. After returning to our camp site we packed up and hiked until the end of the Foam Creek trail for the night. The third day we walked out, after meeting a lot of marmots at the Foam Creek trail and White Pass. We briefly considered climbing White Mountain, but decided to leave that for next time. We met a couple that was just starting a Glacier Peak circumnavigation with their dog. Total: ~30 miles, ~7500ft elevation gain

We had a great day hike. We started with headlamps at about 5:30am and finished at about 6:30 pm. Hiked from the N. Fork Sauk River Trailhead to White Pass and back. Huckleberries were plentiful within 3 miles of White Pass and it was hard to keep hiking when there was so many yummy berries to make us stop hiking. We saw blacktail deer and mountain grouse. There were some hikers on the trail along with one group on horseback. The weather was a bit of a mixed bag- the day before was rainy and overcast with very poor visibility and the day after was rainy and overcast but we lucked out. The day that we were there the weather was blue sky with chilly temps in the am and warming temps thru the day.

Access: The Mountain Loop Highway from Barlow Pass to Forest Road 49 is mostly smooth, but has a few potholes. Forest Road 49 is riddled with potholes, some fairly sizeable, so drive with caution. Trail Conditions: I hiked the trail as far as Mackinaw Shelter and the trail is in good shape overall. There are a few very small, shallow streams to cross which pose no problems. Red Creek has a sturdy bridge over it, so crossing is not a problem. A couple spots were a bit muddy. There was one large tree (about 4 feet in diameter) across the trail requiring a scramble around on the downhill side; however, a couple Forest Service employees were heading in on my way out to take care of it. Flora and Fauna: Huge cedar and Douglas Fir line the trail. Foamflower is still blooming in the forest, and a couple of the more open, brushy areas of the trails have a few flowers still blooming (fireweed, pearly everlasting, even a couple of a paintbrush). A variety of mushrooms lined the trail. Views: This isn't the hike for big mountain views. On a sunny day there are a couple places where Sloan makes an appearance, but it was obscured by clouds today. Harold Engles Memorial Cedars Trail: The trail is in decent shape, but a bit overgrown. North Fork Sauk Falls: The trail is in good shape with a series of switchbacks and stairs leading down to the falls. The rocks at the bottom can be slick.

With the fire closure of the Cady Ridge trail our BP group cast about for an alternative way to get up into the meadows on the west flank of Glacier Peak. I don't know how I had never stumbled across the Pilot Ridge trail before, but so glad I did! It sounded so good that we stayed with it for our 3-day backpack plan even after the Cady Ridge trail re-opened. That's not to say that it was EASY. Far, far to the contrary. With no trouble finding our way to the well-marked North Fork Sauk trailhead, we set out through the huge trees and filtered sunlight for 1.9 miles on the N Fork Sauk trail to the (unsigned!!) junction to the Pilot Ridge trail on the right. (A sign on a big tree just past the jct reads 'Pacific Crest Trail' with an arrow.) Almost immediately the trail vanished into the river and we faced a crossing over a very well-placed log - not too high, nice and flat on top, no problem! From there the trail began to climb, and didn't quit for about 3 hours. The main 3.5 mile, 3000' switchback section featured one glimpse of Glacier Peak, its top shrouded in clouds, but mostly remained in forest and transitioned into more uphill, over several successive humps on the ridge. Finally after about 4 hours we began to break out of the trees into meadows with views of Keyes, Monte Cristo and Sloan Peaks. From here the views were broad and flowers profuse, if a bit past prime. We began to see Johnson Mountain ahead, traversed the meadows around it, and finally descended steeply to Blue Lake on its south side. Blue Lake had a privy, a couple of good 3-tent-sized sites and multiple smaller ones around a pretty reflective lake. The camp area we chose looked out over a west-facing dropoff and our sunset payoff was dramatic. Though the nominal gain for our Pilot Ridge day was just 4000 feet, based on our GPS track we had actually done 5200 feet that day, over 11.6 miles. After talking with others at the camp, we decided to take the 'high route' from Blue Lake up and over the ridge to Dishpan Gap, saving 2 miles. One fellow called it "brutal" which gave us some pause but we stayed with the plan and it proved no big deal - a bit steep but good clear switchbacks on both sides. We had reached Dishpan Gap and our old friend the PCT by about 10AM, and turned left to circle around Meander Meadow and Kodak Peak (no marked trail up Kodak, just a basic bootpath, but a straightforward though steep walk-up and great 360 views). From the point that we crossed the ridge above Blue Lake the day had been open meadows, and this pattern continued all the way to White Pass with the exception of a short forested section on both sides of Indian Pass. The lupine was profuse here, and even some fuschia-bright monkey flower by a spring. Alas, by the time we had passed Reflection Pond to the west just beyond Indian Pass (with camps and fairly clean water), the clouds had lowered significantly and were beginning to drip on us. By the time we reached White Pass the valleys below were pretty well obscured. We had planned to set up camp at White Pass and dayhike up to Red Pass for views across to the White Chuck glacier, but no views were to be had and the weather was setting in in earnest. (Several good camps down below the trail at White Pass by the way, with a little sign to campsites and privy. Didn't see water but previous reports had said there was some down there.) So instead of setting up camp at 2PM only to hunker down in our tents, we decided to head on down the North Fork Sauk trail and camp near Mackinaw Shelter. The descent that looked so horrible on the map was really quite well graded and no problem. By 4PM we had found the shelter and set up in the spacious camps by the river nearby. Second day stats: another 11.5 miles and 3200' of gain. It rained all night. The next morning we packed up and made it the 5.4 miles back to the trailhead in 2 hours. Ice cream in Granite Falls! Try the salted caramel, fantastic!