Day 4
We
were up by 6:30 am on Tuesday morning. Time to break camp and head back
to the trailhead. We took our time and it was 8:10 am when we hefted
our packs once again. On the climb up to the PCT Gary and
John
began to talk about hiking up White Mountain after all. When we reached
the point where we had to decide the backs came off. It seems that a
good nights sleep and clear blue sky had a way to change people's
minds. While Gary looked for a few items to take along I dropped my
pack and took off. I had no desire to reach a cold windy summit five
minutes after the others just to find them ready to head down.
It is about 1000' up to the 7043' summit of White Mountain in just over half a mile. Enough to get the blood pumping. I managed to keep my lead for two thirds of the way but the others caught up as I knew they would. At least we all reached the summit at the same time. A lot of work but oh so worth it. Barely a cloud in the sky and great early morning lighting. We could see our whole route from the day before. It was finally clear enough to the north to see Baker and Shuksan, and Dome and so many other snowy peaks. Pugh, and Bedal, and Sloan, and Stuart , and Daniel, and Three Fingers, and even the Olympics far to the west. A truly great viewpoint. A steady cold breeze was blowing but we did not want to beat a fast retreat. We were on top by 9:00 am and stayed a full half hour. We still had a long hike out with 4000' of descent in addition to the 1000' down White Mountain. That would be plenty for tired feet. At 9:30 am we headed down.
When we reached our packs at the PCT two climbers passed us. Even though it was a day after the end of the holiday weekend we saw a number of folks heading up and down. A short climb to the junction with the NF Sauk Trail then it was downhill. The trail is used by horses and it is very gentle. So gentle that it takes a long time to lose elevation. The first switchback must have been a mile long. There are many more. Most of the descent is not in forest. It can be hot and it is very dusty. So dusty that I had to hike 100' behind the others in order to breathe freely. On the plus side, there were a lot of ripe berries. The first ripe berries I have had this season. That slowed us down a lot.
This was supposed to be the warmest day of the trip and it was. The long time in the open caused me to overheat a little. I was very happy when we finally reached the valley floor and deep cool forest. We took a break at Mackinaw Shelter. There were several other groups there, most heading up higher. The 10 miles out from White Pass seemed to go on and on. The forest is a destination in its own right. There are some very large trees along the lower valley. As stated at the beginning of this report, the trail is in excellent shape. Freshly cut out big trees and no brush left near the trail. That helped a great deal.
On our 2003 trip we had to slide along a narrow log to get across Red Creek. I had read about the new bridge and it is a beauty. No problem crossing the creek now. We sped up considerably for the last five miles. It took us only about 1:45. I was glad to finally see the parking lot. Still quite a few cars there on a Tuesday in September. After canceling my Idaho backpacking trip due to fire and smoke this one nicely made up for it. Miles and miles of meadows with wildflowers. Views from so many places. Some lakes, and three peaks. All but the first and last miles above 5000'. Much more solitude than we had a right to expect. Even generally good weather and few bugs. All the makings of a great backpacking trip. On the last day we hiked 12 miles with 1500' of gain. For the four days I calculate that we traveled 46 miles with 12,200' of gain.
It is about 1000' up to the 7043' summit of White Mountain in just over half a mile. Enough to get the blood pumping. I managed to keep my lead for two thirds of the way but the others caught up as I knew they would. At least we all reached the summit at the same time. A lot of work but oh so worth it. Barely a cloud in the sky and great early morning lighting. We could see our whole route from the day before. It was finally clear enough to the north to see Baker and Shuksan, and Dome and so many other snowy peaks. Pugh, and Bedal, and Sloan, and Stuart , and Daniel, and Three Fingers, and even the Olympics far to the west. A truly great viewpoint. A steady cold breeze was blowing but we did not want to beat a fast retreat. We were on top by 9:00 am and stayed a full half hour. We still had a long hike out with 4000' of descent in addition to the 1000' down White Mountain. That would be plenty for tired feet. At 9:30 am we headed down.
When we reached our packs at the PCT two climbers passed us. Even though it was a day after the end of the holiday weekend we saw a number of folks heading up and down. A short climb to the junction with the NF Sauk Trail then it was downhill. The trail is used by horses and it is very gentle. So gentle that it takes a long time to lose elevation. The first switchback must have been a mile long. There are many more. Most of the descent is not in forest. It can be hot and it is very dusty. So dusty that I had to hike 100' behind the others in order to breathe freely. On the plus side, there were a lot of ripe berries. The first ripe berries I have had this season. That slowed us down a lot.
This was supposed to be the warmest day of the trip and it was. The long time in the open caused me to overheat a little. I was very happy when we finally reached the valley floor and deep cool forest. We took a break at Mackinaw Shelter. There were several other groups there, most heading up higher. The 10 miles out from White Pass seemed to go on and on. The forest is a destination in its own right. There are some very large trees along the lower valley. As stated at the beginning of this report, the trail is in excellent shape. Freshly cut out big trees and no brush left near the trail. That helped a great deal.
On our 2003 trip we had to slide along a narrow log to get across Red Creek. I had read about the new bridge and it is a beauty. No problem crossing the creek now. We sped up considerably for the last five miles. It took us only about 1:45. I was glad to finally see the parking lot. Still quite a few cars there on a Tuesday in September. After canceling my Idaho backpacking trip due to fire and smoke this one nicely made up for it. Miles and miles of meadows with wildflowers. Views from so many places. Some lakes, and three peaks. All but the first and last miles above 5000'. Much more solitude than we had a right to expect. Even generally good weather and few bugs. All the makings of a great backpacking trip. On the last day we hiked 12 miles with 1500' of gain. For the four days I calculate that we traveled 46 miles with 12,200' of gain.
 Heading Up To PCT |
 Even More Anemone |
 Foam Basin |
 I Take Off First |
 Foam Basin Again |
 White Mt. Ridge |
 Dutch Miller Peaks |
 Mt. Daniel |
 White Mt. Summit |
 Mt. Baker |
 View Of Moraines |
 Glacier Peak |
 Long Shadows |
 Ridge To White Pass |
 Mt. Shuksan |
 Whitechuck Cinder Cone |
 Portal Peak |
 Glacier Peak Close Up |
 Upper Moraine Lake |
 Another Of Glacier Peak |
 Jim On White Mountain |
 John & Gary On White |
 Heading Down |
 Trail Junction |
 Monte Cristo Peaks |
 Very Gentle Trail |
 Red Indian Paintbrush |
 Mackinaw Shelter |
 Red Creek Bridge |
 Tree Hugger Gary |
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Pilot Ridge - NF Sauk Loop Report
Trips - 2012
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