Red Pass, Kennedy Ridge, Glacier Ridge, Pumic Creek, and Fire Creek Pass.

I have long wanted to hike along Kennedy Ridge, above the former Kennedy Hot Springs, now long buried, and then to Fire Creek Pass. The trail up Milk Creek, the shortest way there, and the Kennedy Hot Springs trail, were both long ago given up, buried, or not maintained.  So, the best way to get there is to hike to Red Pass, then along the PCT to Fire Creek Pass.  The round trip from the trailhead at the North Fork of the Sauk River to Fire Creek Pass and back is 52 miles, with a lot of elevation gain and loss.

I started out mid-afternoon and hiked to Macinaw Shelter up the North Fork of the Sauk River.  It is an easy backpack for about five miles. The shelter has fallen down, but, many great camp sites are there and very accessible water.

Then enjoy (sarcasm) the long grind up to the connection to the PCT, about 4.5 miles.  It is a steady, mostly dry, climb of about 3,000 feet, with constant southern exposure.  Then, at the junction with the PCT, to the right a short half mile or so is White Pass. 

To the left, about another 700 feet above  and another mile is a beautiful traverse along the side of Red Mountain to Red Pass.  The views are awesome to the Monte Cristo range, and to Sloan Peak.  Tons of berries at this time of the year.  The view at Red Pass towards Glacier Peak is absolutely stunning.

The PCT then travels down the valley, above tree line, is amazing!  Lots of streams, many full of glacial silt, and lots of places to camp. I hiked about five miles from Red Pass to camp near a stream.  Down hill all the way. The trail is very soggy and washed out in some places.  

Then, the next day,  I did a 22 mile round trip to Fire Creek Pass as a day hike. There are many logs across the trail. Not bad for a 70 year old man. :)

The two bridges to cross are out, and many streams a challenge to cross.  I found logs to use or rocks.  I suggest hikers cross the streams early.  By late afternoon the biggest streams were much higher due to the snow and glacier melt off.  The elevation gains are basically up 3,000 feet, down 2,000 feet, up 2500 feet, down 2000 feet....a few times.  :)  A challenge, but doable. 

The scenery is stunning, and wildflowers excellent. The cirque for Pumic Creek is one of the best in the Cascades, with a number of places to camp.  

I retraced my steps to the trailhead.  All completed in 3.5 days.  A great hike. Whenever the trail up MIlk Creek is repaired, this will be a much easier hike.  

I rarely saw anyone, since extremely few PCT thru-hikers this year. I have hiked all over the state; this is one of the most raw, beautiful stretches of the PCT and rarely visited.

Dan

This is the 4th river/forest walk of the month. In trying to escape overrun trails, we have had success with the No Lakes, No Summits rule and stuck to dayhiking backpacking routes. When we got to the TH we were dismayed to see it full, with cars parked a half mile down the road, but we had the trail mostly to ourselves, a couple of trailrunners and some backpackers is it.  This trail is really a worthy day hike in itself. There is only one mtn view, coming early in the first mile, of Sloan Peak, and another one looking up at Red mtn from an avalanche shoot. The rest is all huge old growth cedars, the NF Sauk, creeks and bridges. Keep this one in mind for a cloudy or rainy day, I've done this a couple of times in the rain. The climb is gradual up on nice cushy trail, not many rocks or root ladders to deal with. There are a couple of good lunch spots, one 2 miles in where the Pilot Ridge trail takes off, go toward the river. We did not stop here this time, but I have in the past. Another 3 miles in is the bridge over Red Creek with a nice campground and a backcountry loo. This would also make an excellent place to stop. However we continued another mile or so to see if we could find the old shelter, now a jumble of rotting logs and moss, or maybe some views. No views and I'm not sure if I found the shelter spot or not, someone was camped there and I didn't want to invade their privacy by poking around. According to my fancy watch, this was about 6 miles in.  I wouldn't recommend going this far, but having lunch at the Red Creek bridge and more scenic campground. Another option here, if you're car camping nearby, is to hike up to the old Red mtn lookout site, I was up there about 5 or 6 yrs ago and it was a brushy blowdown mess then, but only a mile to a view of Sloan. There is a climb that continues on called the Painted Traverse for those with the skills, we met some climbers that had done it on their way down. 

Went up on Friday, camped at White Pass, and back down the next day. On my return trip within the last three miles, I found a low-cost knife. If you lost this item, reach out to me privately with a description and I'll happily return it. I ran into a family on horseback and suspect it belongs to one in your group.

I headed out on a day hike on the North Fork Sauk River trail, unsure of how far I would go. Starting at 10:30am, the first 6-7 miles on the North Fork trail are very nice old-growth forest walking with some gradual elevation gain. There is a large tree to climb over on the trail at one spot. And keep a watch out for bears, I passed one I could have reached out and poked, right off the trail on my way back out to my car at dusk, between the Pilot Ridge trail junction and the trailhead.

After the nice forest walking, it turned into a grueling climb in the sun up the switchbacks to get to the PCT. The climb itself wouldn't have been too bad, but if you stop to take a break in the shade, the black flies and bugs swarm like crazy. Bring lots of bug protection, possibly a headnet, if you're up here in the next couple weeks. The trail is also quite rocky here with some muddy sections as some streams run down the trail. There are some good views looking back at Whitehorse mountain, and the sun exposure does lend to some beautiful meadows.

Once I got up to the PCT, if was nice to be walking on a more graded trail with wonderful meadows and views. So many wildflowers are out right now! I turned south on the PCT, hoping to get a view of Glacier Peak at White Pass. Once I got there, I realized it was still blocked by a ridge in front of me. So I looked at my map and decided to climb White mountain from the pass to get a view. I left my day pack at the bottom and hiked the little boot path going up the ridgeline. You see great views to the south going up, and then suddenly cresting the top of White Mtn, there was Glacier Peak!! Well worth the extra climb. Lots of marmots running around, and a number of backpackers coming up the North Fork Sauk trail to camp at White Pass. 

I turned around at that point and after a small break at the pass, at 6pm I hightailed it back to my car. Ended up making it out without needing my headlamp, back to the trailhead a little after 9pm. I hiked a lot more than I thought I would, 22 miles total and over 7000 ft elevation, but the drive to see more just kept me exploring :)

White mountain is a great long day hike to a stellar view of Glacier Peak! 

Starting at the North Fork Sauk Trailhead, wander through a gently climbing trail through shaded old-growth forest. There is just one major tree down on the trail to climb over. After a tough climb up the last 3 miles to the Pacific Crest Trail, turn right at the junction, south on the PCT. Hike for less than a mile, to the edge of the ridge just before reaching White Pass. You'll see an established bootpath trekking up the ridgeline to the top of White Mountain that you can see the top of from the bottom. Follow the path up and greet some marmots on the way. Sometimes the bootpath crosses to the meadow side on the left side of the ridge to avoid rocky exposed areas you'd have to scramble over. Peak the top of White Mountain to suddenly be wow'd by the magnificent view of Glacier Peak for the first time, and the whole range behind! There are 360 views of the North Cascades all around you! 

I did this in a day hike which equated to about 21 miles roundtrip in about 10 hrs total, with 7.5 hrs of that actively hiking. It's about 7100 ft of elevation gain hiking. The summit of White Mountain clocked out at 7024 ft on my GPS. You could also backpack up to White Pass and then climb White Mountain as a side trip. But I liked not having to carry heavy pack all the way up there!