A very pleasant 4 days up to and over First Divide to Home-Sweet-Home and back on excellent trail. The crossing at Nine Stream is out--some of my party used a large log, I forded in sandals with no dificulty. A pack string was bringing up tools for a volunteer crew as we were leaving, so this problem may be fixed fairly soon. Lots of avalanche lilies at First Divide, and a 5-6"" bear track in the mud near the little pond just below the Mt. Hopper Way trail. Our weather was unsettled--lots of marine fog at Home Sweet Home at dusk, but clear views of Mt. Steel the next morning. I hadn't hiked this trail in nearly 25 years, but was pleased to see the meadows in good shape, not too much evidence of over-use. A sign at Home Sweet Home stated that the shelter was going to be ""historically reconstructed"". We set our camp up adjacent to several sling-loads of boulders, lumber, and a large tool chest. All established campsite bear wires and privvies were in good shape. We stayed at Nine Stream, Home Sweet Home and Big Log this time.

road is barrier-free to trailhead. Trail is snowfree to the 4 mile mark and probably farther. no washed out trail, a few downed trees but easy to get around. Great winter hike!

I hiked about 4 miles up the south fork Skokomish River trail (west side of the river and numbered trail #873 on the Mt. Tebo Green Trails map)which is at the end of Forest Service Rd #2361. The first mile is on an abandoned logging road. Fortunately logging has not occured here and the old growth timber was magnificent. Some of the oldest trees must be 500-700 years, judging by my crude count of a downed log. The giants appeared to be Silver Fir. There was lots of Maidenhair Fern and Deer Fern. Biggest, most prolific Maiden Hair fern I have seen anywhere. The trail cross side streams and the South Fork three times over giant logs sawed flat. They appeared to be fairly old, but still in good condition. There were several marked horse camping spots along the trail, but little evidence of recent visits by horses. Since this has been an extremely dry year, the South Fork was very low, and even disappeared underground for a short portion of its length. It was hot and humid, with the occassional welcome cool spots along the river. There were no mudholes, blowdowns or trail washouts - it was in very good condition - at least the part I hiked. I saw a few birds - juncos, winter wrens, a Hairy woodpecker, a Wilson's warbler, a Swainson's Thrush and Stellar jays. It was otherwise completely silent except for the stream tumbling over the grey rocks. Also heard an owl hooting, which sounded very much like recording of a Spotted Owl I have heard. This stretch of the South Fork of the Skokomish River does not have wilderness protection, but it surely should. I did not hike in far enough to gain elevation, but had glimpses of Mt. Tebo to the east and Church Mountain to the west. Also found an unusual mushroom growing right on the trail, looking very healthy in spite of the heat and dryness. This is a good trail for solitude - I didn't see a a single person until I came back to my truck where I met a man and woman with their young daughter walking up the trail a little way.

washouts at mile miles 4, 4 1/2 and 8. a wta trail crew was out blazing a re-route around the washout at mile 4. thanks again! the other two were somewhat easily circumvented by bushwhacking above the washout. for mountain bikers and horse riders there are down trees along the trail that make for not so smooth riding and eventually(beyond the first washouts) will probably encourage you to turn around. hikers(and runners) however can manage most of the blowdowns with ease. the big bridge at approx. mile 9, just before harps shelter, is still out of commision. i was able to wade across at the horse ford just below(water was low and only knee deep at the most). overall the trail was beautiful and a joy to run. i have to warn that the elevation gain for the whole length of the trail and back to the trail head is about 3000ft which is not mentioned in the wta trail review. however these are all small climbs none of which are of any difficulty on their own.

Trail head has been moved. It is about 300 feet lower and about 3/10 of a mile longer. All the trail description I found were from the higher trailhead. The trail had 108 blowdowns on it, with 95 coming in the mile before the meadows. The upper trail is in deplorable shape and will be gone in a few years if something is not done soon. It took us 5 hours to go 5 miles over the blowdowns. The meadows below Sundown Pass still have about 3 feet of snow in them.