2022-08-14 - Lost Creek and Red Pass Loop

Painted Mountain and Sloan Peak
Painted Mountain and Sloan Peak

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Sunday I hiked the loop of Lost Creek Ridge, down to the White Chuck River, join the PCT, climb up Red Pass, and down the North Fork Sauk Trail. Including the road section back, it's about 40 miles and 11K gain.

The route has great views of Glacier Peak, Sloan Peak and the Painted Traverse. I particularly liked the section on the PCT to Red Pass, which is pretty far from any trailhead.

I had some interesting moments that kept me sharp:

  • The tread on the Lost Creek is ... not great. You really have to be careful in the meadows etc. I pulled out two hiking poles, which I basically never do.

  • Some close proximity bear grumblings. Yelling hey bear was sufficient.

  • The trail down to the White Chuck River initially looks good but then gets very overgrown, many blowdowns, and then disappears at the bottom in Devil's Club.

  • The river had no usable log. I waded through it.

  • I though I had the correct connector trail, but I ended up on an old trail that paralleled Kennedy Creek the whole way just below the top of the steep drainage (very odd location for a trail). It wasn't bad, but not pleasant and some unnecessary elevation gain.

  • The PCT in this area has many blowdowns and pretty overgrown.

Also 3 miles from the car I decided to call it a day (you can imagine how one must feel to reach that conclusion) and slept in an improvised bivy and did the remaining 3 miles in the morning. I slept pretty well though. Who needs a mattress if you have nice soft moss and wood??

Route

Lost Creek / Red Pass Loop
Lost Creek / Red Pass Loop

Highlights

Sloan
Sloan
White Chuck River crossing area
White Chuck River crossing area
Kennedy Glacier
Kennedy Glacier
Glacier Peak from Lake Byrne area
Glacier Peak from Lake Byrne area