Rainy Lake , Middle Fork Snoqualmie River #1003

Sadie was ready. She had read up on this hike, but it sounded a bit dicey trying to find the lake. So, she picked up Bernadette and then, in North Bend, Julie and Zoe (her 4-legged friend). Off we went to the Ken's Truck Stop exit and north past the gas stations to the Middle Fork Road. Sadie was a little nervous that we might be heading up to Mailbox Peak - although a favorite hike, there isn't any water But, no, we passed that trailhead and about another 11 miles down the road, we arrived at the designated trailhead. Once across the river on the Gateway Bridge (nice bridge) you take a right turn, rather than the standard left turn up the CCC trail. From there, you go West about 1/2 mile until you get to what looks like a dry creek bed (and when you see the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River) and head South and you will see the trail turn to the left (East) take it - the trail actually is pretty obvious - but the description Karen (Sykes) gives in her ""Hidden Hikes"" book is a little confusing. The trail doesn't stay very ""obvious"" as you go towards the creek crossing, but follow your feet and stick with what looks like a trail and a log crossing - it really looks fairly obvious. Once you cross the log, go left and you will find the trail. Unfortunately, however, the rest of the route to Rainy Lake isn't so clear. We tried to follow Karen's directions, but we never did find the creek crossing she mentions (not Rainy Creek) - we kept going a couple of miles, before we decided we weren't going to get there from here! So, we over-shot the route to Rainy Lake by a good 2 miles - but it was a lovely hike none-the-less. I have no idea where we were going, but we went! We finally turned around, came back the same way we had gone and wound back up at the Snoqualmie River for a nice dip/swim. Sadie was happy. There was plenty of water and access to the creek, so dogs should be fine on this route. We will go back another time and see if we can find that elusive creek crossing - I'm sure we just blew it - but it sure isn't obvious!!! In all, about a 10-11 mile hike through beautiful forests. Never a bad day on the trail. Weather was perfect. As with other trips this year - bugs are hungry. Be prepared. We ran into a hornets' nest and B and Sadie got stung - but we avoided a potentially worse run-in!