Dry trail with some uneven tread. Two blowdowns that needed to be ducked undered. Fir needles and hemlock cones scattered over trail throughout. Nice simple trail.

I pulled together four companions (Herself, The Boy, The Tall Daughter and The Grandson) for a family exploration of Spider Lake on a beautiful day. The hike description gives good directions, just watch your odometer when FR 23 bends left at the "Spider Lake 8 miles" sign; you will be at the pullout under the "Spider Lake" trailhead sign in exactly 8.0 miles! If you miss it, turn around at the road junction 50 yards ahead. The road is in fine shape for a FS road; you can safely go 35 MPH on parts of FR 23!

The Grandson is barely a year, so I carried him while Herself took my pack. He has a nice carrier pack, but there are 5-6 significant blowdowns on this trail that had me handing the pack over a log jumble once, and hiking above the trail and around a root ball at one other place. It's not an easy hike for really little ones, backpacked or toddling, but children who can climb can make a go of it. Maybe we can get William's sawyers in there for a day to clear the way.

Water was clear and inviting, but there was no time for fishing or swimming, so that report will have to wait. But it's a great little hike, a nice place to find solitude (at least on a Tuesday), and with some minor clearing, it would be a pleasant ramble for all ages.

We decided to see what Spider Lake looked like. Had never been there before and wanted to see how it would be for small children. It was pretty little lake, quiet, fish, and nice trail other than a few blowdowns you had to climb over. Only problem is - it is a long way to drive and such a short hike. 2 miles. The road to the trailhead was 23 miles from 101. I followed the directions in the Olympic Book, and overshot the trail by about 5 miles. The sign for the trail is way up high in the tree....and slightly covered by the tree branches. Don't know why it is so high. If the book had said to park right before road 2350 we would have caught the sign maybe, but you don't see the trail head from the road...so you really have to keep your eyes peeled for it. It was a gorgeous day, and there was a perfect lunch spot at the beginning of the hike right by the water. It took us so long to drive to the trail that we were ready for lunch before the hike!

The road snow has melted finally. So you can get there was just a normal 2 wheel drive now.

Quick easy hike. There is a huge tree blow down on the opposite side of the lake. I think there might have been a easier way to get around it lol. But I went over it and ended up climbing up the hill to get back on the trail.

I was surprised on the lack of of camp sites around the lake. I saw one. I might take my float tube and fish the lake this summer. The lake is beautiful.