Backpacking Blackjack Ridge and Cradle Lake
Blackjack Ridge offers exceptional views of the central Cascades — a particularly striking angle on Stuart, with good views of Tahoma (Mount Rainier) and Dakobed (Glacier Peak) — along with a high alpine lake, mid-July wildflowers, and birds.
We did this as a 3-day, 2-night back from the Jack Trout Trailhead. That said, we’d recommend against doing this route as a loop for most backpackers. The Blackjack Ridge Trail between Bootjack Mountain and the Snowall-Cradle Lake Trail is poorly marked, inconsistently mapped across every major source, and requires route-finding experience. More on that below.