I went with one other person from the "Four Legged Mountaineers" meetup group. My instructions to her would be that we would meet at the parking area just outside the dam gates. Alas, things had changed somewhat since my previous visits and that parking area is now blocked off. We ended up rendezvous-ing at a pull-off a little further up the road from the gate from which a short path intersects the trail. (This has actually been my usual parking spot in recent years.) I don't know who, but some group has maintained this trail as I found gravel and trail borders in areas that I don't recall seeing before, in addition to a bench about two miles along the trail that I don't recall having seen before either. The spot where the bench is was the highlight of the walk, since it overlooked a waterfall on the far side of the river (although the muddiest part of the walk was the part leading up to it.) That was also our turnaround point. An unusual feature of this hike is a bathroom along the way in the middle of nowhere; was it put there originally for loggers? On the return trip we had some difficulty picking up the trail in a couple of places where you have to walk on roads for short distances, since it wasn't obvious which way along the road you need to walk.

Pulled into the large, but mostly empty parking lot at 10am. Checked out the viewpoint at the eastern corner of the recreation area before heading off along the Rim Trail. The Rim Trail was in good condition, just a bit muddy in a few places.

The River Trail started with a gravel road, but turned into mud at the bottom of the valley. The mud was compact, but there were quite a few large puddles (and a few smaller blowdowns as well). Turned around where we would have had to ford Scatter Creek.

Wildflowers: Trillium, Bleedingheart, Salmonberry, Skunk Cabbage...

Encountered two parties on the Rim Trail, none on the River Trail.

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/[…]/MudMountainDamApril2012
Tracklog: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/173162108

We took the rim trail two miles (there are some branches on the trail and a little mud) then headed down the gravel road to the river and wandered on from there a bit. There were many different animal prints in the muddy valley soil. The soil is eroding in some places along the river. Spring is coming to the plants (pussy willows?) and bringing some neat colors. This was a pretty and pleasant hike! We saw just two other couples in the four hours we were there. We took over 500 pictures.

After a light snow in the lowlands, I thought I'd see what conditions a little higher up were like. Temp was in the high 30s and snow ranged from dusting to 4-5 inches by the river. This was a fantastic winter hike. Perhaps more beautiful with snow than any other time. The trail was clear and the peace of the meadow by the river was excellent.

The trail was easy to follow. As you are looking at the large gate to the Recreation Area (with times, etc.), the trailhead is to your left.