Cascade Pass and Sahale Arm Trail

This was my first serious hike in recent years. Last one was Enchantments in 2023 with Ziwei. W and I set off early in the morning around 6:30am. The drive was fun and we shared a lot with each other. I could not even recall when we met last time. It was however a relaxing and fun conversation. He started paddle boarding and had been teaching himself and practicing throughout the summer.

Road conditions were great until we got to the last few miles to the trailhead. As usual, it was unpaved with pot holes and the Rogue Sport could barely survive it (I was driving E’s car). Fortunately, the parking lot was almost full, but we still found a spot close to the trail sign. We hit the trail at 9:40 a.m.

The first section was 36 switchbacks spanning 2.5 mile long through the forests and there was little view. Then forests thinned and the trail contoured the mountain. Fall colors started to show with yellow, and red shrubs in front of backdrop of distant white glaciers and grey mountains. Wild animal was everywhere - we saw a black bear, mountain goats, grouse (a bird apparently very similar to ptarmigans), chipmunks. We then arrived at the Cascade pass and took a longer break. Quite a few other folks were there too and we all enjoyed the views on both sides of the pass.

Leaving the pass, we followed the sign to the Sahale arm. This portion is no joke - continuously steep ascending under the strong sun heat on a very exposed trail with little shade. The ridge seemed not far yet slowly retreated as we got closer. Our legs were sore already and I could hear my own heart beating fast. Finally we reached the ridge and a few steps more led us to a prominent spot with great views of doubtful lake down below. There was even an island in the lake. I had instant noodle there for lunch; W did not eat much as he already had two protein bars on the way up. The Sahale glacier fully revealed itself and we saw melting streams waterfall into the lake. The glacier was almost completely gone. Maybe in a decade or two there wouldn’t be even snow in late summer.

It was over 1pm and I wanted to return, knowing that I wouldn’t make it to the top anyways. W wanted to explore a bit more. I agreed to hike another 20 minutes and took a break while waiting on him to ascend a bit further. A mountain goat appeared next to the rocky slope and spotted me. The goat and I simply stared at each other for a couple minutes doing nothing. It seemed cautious and wanted to ensure no danger. I enjoyed a few minutes of just focusing on the goat and forgetting about everything.

W came back 15 minutes later and we started descending. The switch backs were longer somehow - maybe we were just tired. It was 4:30 as we got back to our car. Recommended by W, we had planned to go to River Time Brewing in Darrington for dinner. W felt nauseous however on our ride there. We made a few stops along the ways for bathroom, snacks, and rest. He seemed to have low glucose and electrolytes deficiency. I was pretty worried but did not know how to help. Finally he was feeling better and we got back to town.