[fn1889m]

The closed road adds 2 miles to the hike. And it’s cold and windy up there. A bear was spotted at the parking lot. It is allegedly aggressive/unafraid of people. I did not see it. Not a lot of people there. The access road is washboarded. Excessively so for a light truck with hard inflated tires and stiff shocks. Sandbags. Testing new phone camera.

[Bowregard]

Wow - Phone cameras are getting very good. Beautiful photos - I especially like the composition of that last one. Were there really that few people (I didn't see any in the photos) or does that camera have a new feature to erase distracting objects from the photos?

[fn1889m]

There were a handful of hikers to the pass. Three or four groups/individuals came down from camping on Sahale Arm. But it was the normal amount of people. Not like Maple Pass. Phones. I was going to get a Camera, but to get a camera as good as the phone would be about $300. And I’m not really much of a photographer. Phone cameras have just improved a great deal. I must have driven by it a dozen times, but walking the road, this was the first time I had seen the cabin and the old trail from Mineral Park to the pass. Beckey talks about the trail in one of his books. Looking back, I wish the road had never been built above Mineral Park.

[bullfrog]

Could you bring a mountain bike in your car, carry it across the washout, and then bike the rest of the way to the trailhead? Do you have a photo of the washout?

[Bowregard]

This is the last photo I saw of it but they may have done work on it since: https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report-2021-08-06-6715428719 It I remember right that last stretch was a pretty steep grade. Not sure I would want to ride my heavily loaded bike even if the road was solid (which I expect it would be). Edit: Take those photos with a grain of salt. I just checked google maps and the imagery shows a lot of work completed on the road although I don't know when that imagery was taken.

[fn1889m]

The wood has been cleared away from the two washouts. One guy had a mountain bike at the parking lot. He passed me on the way back when I was walking the road, so I think you could ride through the two washouts. But in any event, he got through. Maybe an extra pair of shoes. It’s not a long walk from the ElDorado lot to the CP trailhead. Be interesting to bike from Concrete (end of the Skagit Transit bus route) to the CP lot and make Sahale in one day.