My trip report won't add a ton of value, as the description on Pilot Ridge Loop main page and last trip report are detailed and accurate.

I caught Mountain Loop Hwy out of Darrington. FR 49 has some potholes, but road was manageable, especially for my Outback. I arrived at trailhead late Thursday (4th of July) afternoon. All of the parking spots next to trailhead was full, but I was able to park between 2 trees by the campsites.

Public service announcement: Learn to park and don't park in the middle of the road so other cars can get by!!!

I began hiking on North Fork Sauk River Trail ~4:30 pm. Passed the junction to Pilot Ridge Trail (campsite here). 2 campsites with water access (on left and other on right) ~2,799'.  Since I got a late start, I setup at one of the many camps (Mackinaw Shelter?) ~2,957' - bathroom and river access. The next day, start switchbacks and the elevation gain. Amazing views and lots of flowers plus a couple marmots :) Next water source/small stream (~5,481') and another just before junction with PCT. Another small stream just after PCT junction. Cross over first snow patch across trail. Turned right (south) on PCT. Ideally, I would have stayed at White Pass. The view on a clear day would be awesome. Unfortunately the weather wasn't clear, so I didn't get the full benefit of the views. After White Pass there aren't as many flowers and number of snow patches that are easy to cross increase. ~5,538 pond with campsite. Another pond ~5,378'. @~5,321' there's stream.  ~4,973' there is a cap by the meadow. The pond in meadow is dirty, so fill up water at stream beforehand. By Meander Meadows trail junction (~5,408) there is a camp with view. There is camp by junction of Bald Eagle Trail & PCT. Turn right on Bald Eagle trail. Pass multiple water sources (streams). At next junction, took Blue Lake High Route - more and more and more climbing! The trail is easy to follow and no snow, but the trail is very narrow and rocky with some steep drop offs. After finally reaching the top, awesome views with first glimpse of Blue Lake. Begin steep descent; continue to watch your footing. Cross some more snow just before lake. I walked around Blue Lake trying to find a campsite, but all appeared to be taken and I didn't want to be rude and setup camp right next to another party. I caught trail to right of outlet and headed ~.5 mile down to Little Blue Lake. There was no one else camped there. The camps are not on the lake. The mosquitoes were swarming all around me. I thought about heading back toward Blue Lake, but I didn't have it in me (I was so exhausted and hungry!) and didn't know where I would camp by junction of .  The next morning, I did short walk down to the stream. As I was filtering water, I watched a couple marmots. Fill up with water as you won't have another water source until you begin heading down toward river (~4,729'). I headed back toward Blue Lake, but headed left on Pilot Ridge trail up hillside. Tons of flowers! At times I questioned if I was on the trail, as it was slightly overgrown. At end of very long switchback, reach the ridge. Shortly thereafter reach junction Johnson Mountain trail. Stay left on Pilot Ridge trail. No campsites as trail is cut in hillside. There was one patch of snow that I tried to go around and fell on my front side and slid a bit down the hill. Trail went up and down and up and down.  ~5,404' there is a flat area where a tent could be setup (view of mountains). Begin the downward knee jarring descent. Finally come to NF Sauk river. Campsite available. I ate some blueberries after 2 of the bushes which bloomed. I evaluated the situation trying to figure out the best the way cross the river. Just down river of where trail approaches river is a single log that was fairly easy to cross, even for wussies like me who don't like walking on logs over water. Back to trailhead. Most of the campsites were occupied.

My son and I had a successful Glacier Peak climb June 29-July 2. Day 1 to White Pass. (9 hours). Day 2 to Glacier Gap. (7 hours). Day 3 — Climb and  hike back to Foam Creek. (16 hours). Day 4 — Back to trailhead. (5 hours).  These are all-in times with stops, meals and rests, and we hadn’t hiked this season at all before going. We took this trip last year and found the going easier this year by adding an extra day and breaking it up this way.

Trail to Mackinaw Shelter was brushed. Thank you! Some bugs but not too bad. 24 switchbacks from there make the next section steep and long. Camps at white pass and glacier gap nice and open. Water available all the way to glacier gap so you can save some weight by not carrying too much.

 I did not appreciate the Mountaineer leader who told my son (not me) to “turn back” 30 minutes from Glacier Gap as his team was coming down. Yes, we understood that a thunderstorm, with possible lightning, was coming. That’s why we were hustling.  While a saddle is not the best place to camp for lightning, we understood that too. We accepted the risk and set up camp before a brief shower started. You hiked with your Mountaineer team across an equally exposed, high basin and got drenched while we napped. Please — Freedom of the Hills, baby.

Glad we didn’t turn back. July 1 was a a gloriously clear day and we were the only folks to summit, or who were even on the mountain that day.  We are grateful. 

We hope you have a chance to experience Glacier Peak.

Unsuccessful Attempt at Glacier Peak!  BUT what a grand adventure anyway with some awesome people : )  Spent the night in my car, and was moving by 6:15am sat am.  Make it to the ruins of poor Mackinaw Shelter t 8:30am and pushed it up to White Pass by 11am!  Not super fast, but great for me : )  Chill-axed until friends got there at 2pm.  We followed the Foam Creek trail up over the ridge and down onto the White Chuck Glacier.  We had hoped to go to high camp for the night, but the wind was pretty impressive and we felt better camping there at ~6,400ft.  There was a spot to get water a bit below camp.  The weather that night was "exciting" to say the least and my tent tried to fold down on top of me a few times!  Talk about noisy!  Thank goodness for tough Big Agnes tents!  Nobody slept very well and by 4:30am when we got up, the wind was Really Moving and there was rain/snow mix flying though the air.  Visibility was hit and miss but we'd come so far and had to at least give it a go!  Well the further up we went, the worse the conditions became.  The wind picked up so that the strong gusts easily caught me off guard.  visibility  was practically zilch and at that point we were blindly following our GSP's. . .So,. . .

In the end we made it just past high camp at ~7,500ft and called it : (  It was the right choice as were all wet and starting to get too cold, but still a bummer.  BUT We'll BE BACK! 

Packing up in the wind/rain was tricky and the nasty followed us all the way back to about 1000ft below while pass.  We finally got some sun through the trees at Mackinaw shelter where we were able to dry out a bit before returning to the cars. 

If Mountains were a sure thing, they would offer no excitement! 

Blog version (disclaimers)

Quick-and-dirty version

Access: North Fork Sauk River Trailhead
Round Trip: 29.2 miles
Elevation Range: 2080′-8200′
Gear: helmet, crampons

Approach

1. Hike the Nork Fork Sauk River Trail to White Pass.
2. Continue hiking through snowfields to the notch west of Point 6770.
3. Descend steep slopes northbound into White Chuck River Basin at 6300'.
4. Continue to head north on moderate terrain to the flat area at 6700'.
5. Head northeast to the eastern basin of White Chuck Glacier and locate a snow ramp.
6. Attain the upper basin via the ramp and then head east toward Kololo's northwest ridge.
7. Cross over the ridge onto Suiattle Glacier and travel south toward Kololo Peaks.
8. Climb west peak and then scramble a short distance through the connecting saddle to the higher east summit.

Highlights

• Bluebird weather on day two
• View of four volcanoes: Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, and the tip of Mount Adams
• Views to many high points in the Glacier Peak Wilderness
• Sunlight and solitude

Lowlights

• Approach to camp in a whiteout on day one
• Rain, snow, and hail on the approach

This is lovely old-growth forest-- some of the nicest I've ever seen in the Cascades. There's one small creek crossing about a mile and where our feet got wet but in general the trail is very nice. This time of year there's just enough running water for your dog if you forget to bring a little bowl, though you don't generally have access to the Sauk, which was absolutely raging. We turned around at the river crossing, at 4 miles, but you don't need to go far at all to see the exceptional forest (the cedar groves in particular are nicest at the beginning). On this beautiful sunny Sunday we saw a large group of about 10 skiers heading back from earning their turns, a large group of backpackers coming back, and maybe 12 or so other people. I was actually surprised that we saw as many people as we did given that we had to drive on about 14 miles of unpaved road (including the unpaved stretch of Mountain Loop Highway), however, if you took away the two large groups there wouldn't have been many at all.

It took us about 2 hours and 10 minutes to get to the trailhead from our home near Greenlake. There are a few rough spots that require some clearance, but any crossover would be fine. In general the road is pretty good; narrow but without any steep drop offs.