[RakCity]

We are looking to head out to this area for 4 days. Not looking to get into anything too hairy. As in, it would be nice if we didn't need crampons. Just wondering if anyone knows of the conditions in the high country along this route. Also, we considered getting into the Jade Lake, Marmot Lake, Robin Lake, Tuck Lake area. I assume that is probably much more snow in this area, but if I am mistaken, please let me know!! Thanks so much for any help! First Post!

[Nancyann]

How soon are you thinking about doing this trip? When we did that loop in early August two years ago, the snow was still melting out where the trail traverses the cirque below Blue Lake and Johnson Peak. The Blue Lake High Route, if you choose that way, is no doubt still under snow at this time. I don’t know about crampons, but I sure would bring an ice axe and Microspikes at the very least. Also, as you head up the North Fork Sauk trail, take a peek at the water level in the North Fork Sauk where you have to cross it, if you are planning on going out Pilot Ridge, so you don’t have any surprises at the end of your trip.

[RichP]

Here's a trip report from around this time of the year in 2016. I would expect similar conditions. You will find snow around White Pass and around Blue Lake for sure. This mini heat wave could melt quite a bit though. https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8021289&highlight=pilot+ridge

[Nancyann]

SHA always writes such great trip reports. The only thing I would like to add is that we got a lot of snow this year and depending on the aspect of the terrain, there is still a lot of deep snow in some areas. For example, today at 4,100ft, One Acre Lake below Mt. Stickney, there were still vast stretches of snow 5-6 feet deep. The lake was just barely starting to melt out.

[RakCity]

Thanks for the info! Do you know if there are any campsites on Pilot Ridge?

[Nancyann]

I remember a flat area with a little snow left in the vicinity of the saddle a few miles from the trailhead, where the trail loses about 800 feet and then gains it back again. If you go early in the season, there should be plenty of snow to melt if you need to bivy along the way. When are you thinking about doing your trip?

[RakCity]

Thinking about this weekend

[Nancyann]

Here is a photo looking towards the White Pass area of Glacier Peak, with Pilot Ridge somewhere off to the left of GP, taken one week ago. Sorry for the crappy resolution, it’s a cell phone zoom.

Glacier Peak from Beckler Peak 6/11/18

If you are comfortable with snow travel, you will probably be fine. Personally, I would be more worried about getting across the N. Fork Sauk to complete the loop. Here are two photos I took yesterday at about 4,000 ft. elevation, below Mt. Stickney. Granted, this is in the convergence zone and gets an extra dose of precipitation, but these snowfields were in full sun, and still holding 4-5 feet of snow in many areas. You are bound to find that on many areas of the PCT this weekend.

One Acre Lake, Mt. Stickney 6/19/18

One Acre Lake, Mt. Stickney 6/19/18

[Kim Brown]

June is awfully early for White Pass, etc. Hop onto WTA's site and do a search to gauge when trip reports begin appearing for that area year to year (there is nearly 20 years of trip reports there, so it should give a pretty good idea). Search Blue Lakes, Bald Eagle, Pilot Ridge, PCT White Pass, Little Wenatchee Loop - sometimes folks drop over to Blue Lakes when on that loop. Do the same w/ the other trails you're interested in.

[RakCity]

Thanks for the help. We are fine with travel over snow. Just trying to figure out what to expect. I've looked through a lot of reports, but this year had relatively more snow and a warmer spring.

[Foist]

You will definitely have steep snow fields this weekend. Bring (and know how to use) an ice axe and traction if you go, although you said you're comfortable on snow so presumably I'm preaching to the choir. Oh and others have said, check out the NF Sauk crossing at the beginning of your hike. There may still be a giant tree lying across that you can walk or crawl over, but you don't want to find out whether that is true only at the END of your trip.

[Nancyann]

Kim and Foist have some good suggestions. If you do go, watch out for creek crossings where there is still deep snow, which has been softened by the hot sun. There is a real potential for falling through where the snow is undermined by the creek. Also beware of snow bridges, many of which are ready to collapse now. Basically, if the conditions were better, a lot of us would be up there. On the plus side, there will be very few bugs. We didn’t see any yesterday.

[RakCity]

Perfect. Sounds good. I think that we're going to end up bringing our snowshoes and ice axes. Thanks for the tips.

[RakCity]

We ended up doing Cady Ridge-PCT-Meander Meadow/Little Wenatchee. Most of the route was snow, pretty much everything above 5k feet. Route finding was a bit tricky cutting across Cady Ridge behind the high points. It shouldn't have been too bad on the PCT, but we were pretty densely socked in up there, so the compass was needed. The snow was pretty stable the whole way though. We were pretty thankful for the cloud cover while on the PCT as this was the steepest part of the journey requiring bootpacking a couple of steep pitches and traversing some side-faces. Overall, snowshoes were pretty helpful and the ice axes were great for a piece of mind. It will probably be a while before this melts out though.

[chiwakum]

Thanks for following up with a conditions update