Sauk Mountain

Location: North Cascades - Highway 20
Length: 4.2 miles roundtrip

Elevation: Gain/1200 ft. Highest/5500 ft.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 3 hours

 

As with all of my posts, the difficulty of these hikes are based on my current age and fitness level. I certainly don't expect everyone to have the same experience. After all, the Washington Trails Association calls Mt. Dickerman "moderate" and that is by far the hardest hike I've ever done. Sauk is always referred to as the great "get back into the swing of things" hike to train for the season. It's short, sweet, and awesome. If you take highway 20 from Sedro-Woolley, the road to the trailhead is on the left almost directly across from Littlefield Road. The sign is easy to miss, but you will recognize the missing persons sign for Patti Krieger. Regardless of what people believe happened to her, it's a reminder to us all to be well prepared, think smart, and be safe during any hike. Always tell someone where you're going, don't leave the trail (too far, lol), and always take enough supplies. The road up is always a hassle so take a reliable car and watch for potholes.

 

Once you arrive at the trailhead, there's the quirky old outhouse. I honestly don't think I could fit in it, it looks like it was built for a gnome. You already get a stunning view from the start. It's a very open hike basically built out of switchbacks cut right out of the side of the mountain. It is very steep and early in the season can be slippery from the patches of snow. Later in the season it gets slippery because the dirt gets so fine and dry. I slip on my ass at least once every time.

 

Skagit River cutting down into the valley.

Skagit River traversing up the valley.

I see people with their kids, even toddlers, all the time on this hike. I'm not so sure I would take a 4 year old on it, but that's just me. Once you start tumbling down this mountain, I don't think there's any stopping! In fact, last time I was there, there was a poor girl about my age with her boyfriend literally crawling down the mountain from her fear of heights. It's a very open and steep hike for sure! I even remember as a kid being scared to look out the window driving up to the trailhead.

 

Would you let your kid play on this?!

The payoff is incredible, though. If you are familiar with Skagit Valley, it's fun to orient yourself and pick out certain locations. You can even see Puget Sound from up there. The top is very rocky and always usually has some snow patches, especially early in the season. I just about threw up my Subway seeing kids and dogs run around on these ice shelves where you could literally hear the water running underneath. On the other side of the mountain is Sauk Lake, which you can hike down to if the snow has melted enough. I haven't done it personally but it doesn't look too far of a trek. Depending on the time of the year that you hike, the wildflowers are insane. But with that comes the bugs. One year I had to turn around because the bugs were so bad. Look on the WTA for recent trip reports regarding issues like that.

 

You get an amazing 360 view of the Cascades for the reward.