Got started around 10am under low clouds and light drizzle—a welcome change after the climate changey spring we've had in the PNW. The run up the valley to Snoqualmie Lake was peaceful and cool.

Above Snoqualmie Lake, the trail opens up and gives some really nice views back down at the lake. From there, it’s about 1.5 miles and ~300 feet of gain to reach Deer and Bear Lakes. Past Bear Lake, the descent to Dorothy gets steeper with switchbacks and is pretty overgrown. Unfortunately there were no great views looking down at Dorothy as this part was densely forested. 

I only made it to the southern tip of Lake Dorothy. I’d hoped to loop around for better views, but the trail was too choked in. Bug pressure was intense around all the lakes—anytime I stopped for a gel, I was instantly swarmed.

On the return, I passed several campers at Snoqualmie Lake. One group had left a still-smoldering fire—please don’t do this. Fires are prohibited, and so are off-leash dogs (saw at least a dozen). Letting dogs run off trail isn’t just against the rules—it harms wildlife. Please be respectful.

All in all, a great run with cool temps and some beautiful stretches—but I wouldn’t recommend continuing down to Dorothy. 

This was meant to be a 2-night trip, but I packed up and hiked out after first night.

The parking lot for Taylor River was over 3/4 full on a misty Sunday late morning. Pit toilet was stocked and clean, but there is no trash can so pack out your own garbage.

Saw a few groups of backpackers on their way down (despite the wet weekend!) as well as trailer runners and day hikers.

My plan was to hike up to Snoqualmie Lake and camp, and day hike up to Bear and Deer Lakes, maybe as far as Dorothy, to find some spots to sketch the next day, returning to Snoqualmie Lake for the second night. The walk up starts wide and narrows over time, becoming a single dirt track by the time you reach the climb up to Snoqualmie Lake. There are some water crossings, but none are too fast or deep to walk over. Big Creek Falls is at a wide concrete bridge a little way beyond Otter Falls and was flowing strong. The trail is sometimes quite rocky the further up you go but does not become a challenge until the last few miles up to the lake. There are several larger trees down between the Nordrum Lake junction and the climb up to Bear and Deer Lakes. The last two miles up to Snoqualmie Lake is often overgrown, muddy, and rocky (sometimes felt like climbing up a steam bed).

There were salmonberries ripening on the lower portion of trail, although heavily picked at this point. All of the higher elevation berries were still in flower or unripe.

Flowers! Creeping dogwood that became more prevalent the higher up I went, along with queen's cup/bead lily, big purple thistles, purple aster, western columbine, and a few I didn't know off the top of my head. Lots of pink coralroots popping up around the camping areas too. Looks like bear grass and fireweed will be going soon up high as well. 

There was a very light rain by the time I arrived at the lake, and between that and traipsing through wet brush, I was soaked setting up camp. Rain pants and boots might have helped, but even my jacket was saturated through. As soon as I stopped, the bugs swarmed in and did not let up. I applied picaridin and got my ThermaCell going before realizing they were mostly gnat swarms and did not seem very deterred by my anti-mosquito measures. I donned a heat net, but it was still annoying, and they were bothering my dog a lot. We spent the evening in the tent relaxing and drying off.

Campsites: There is one before you descend to the lake, on the right up in the trees. There are 3 sites down by the lake (one lakefront on the right, one on the left at the edge of the forest, and one on the right a bit further on). I found another sort-of-hidden site on the right in the trees after climbing up to see if I could get away from the bugs (did not help). I set my pack here and went to look for a running water source/the site further down I read about online. I found the trail to the last lakefront site just after the footbridges before the climb to the other lakes begins. Its steep, muddy, and overgrown, but the site is nice and has a little peninsula and a metal fire ring. I went back for my pack and set up here.

As I saw mentioned in another report, the water was strangely very warm to touch.

It sprinkled off and on all night. I'd hoped that some sun or a breeze would deter the bugs, or that maybe the higher lakes had more wind. The morning was pleasant but the bugs were still out in force, so we had a quiet tent morning before taking our hike up to Bear and Deer Lakes (in still-wet shoes and pants). There is one large tree down before the climb up, and the trail is narrow and brushy. I tried knocking water off with a trekking pole but it only succeeded in slowing down the dampness. There were some nice sites up at the other lakes, but as soon as I stopped very long, more gnats found us. I decided to turn around before going to Dorothy Lake as I didn't want to do the extra climb back and I thought I might bail and hike out if bugs hadn't improved back at camp.

They did not improve. They were finding their way in my head net as I was packing up. I didn't savor the idea of spending the whole sunny day in a tent (the dog doubly so), and figured I might as well use it walking. We headed back down around noon, stopping at Otter Falls for over an hour to eat and sketch. There were thankfully no biting bugs at Otter Falls, or most of the lower part of the trail. I noticed some campsites off trail near the river both in the Otter Falls and Snoqualmie Lake/Quartz Creek junction vicinity.

No litter, no poop bags, only 1 group playing music out of a speaker. Mostly had the trail to ourselves. Made it back to the trailhead before 5:30 pm and there were maybe 5 cars in the lot including mine. 

Summary: This was a 2 night/3 day early season backpack to elevations under 5,000 feet (read snow free; Lake Dorothy at 3,000 ft & Bear/Deer Lakes under 4,000 ft) hiked by a 50 something mom and her college age daughter. We camped at Lake Dorothy and did a day hike up to Bear and Deer Lakes. Midweek, we had the lakes to ourselves and enjoyed some swimming at Dorothy but the bugs were rather relentless unless there was a decent wind. We wore bug nets over our heads most of the time. Trail is a bit overgrown overall and most noticeable on the hike up to Bear and Deer Lakes. Swim at Dorothy Lake or Camp Robber Creek. There is a strange, smelly, mustard color slime at the lake's edge of both Bear and Deer Lakes. Yuk.

Stats:

1. -1 hour, 4 mile bike up the remaining forest service road/40 minutes bike back to the car (we went slowly with our heavy packs).
2. -1.5 hrs, 3.5 mile hike from official trail head to mid-lake campsite. We spent another 30-45 min scouting the best campsite. Part of that mileage might be scouting for a campsite. I can't remember when exactly I paused my Garmin watch.
3. -2 hours, 6 mile day hike from mid-lake campsite at Dorothy Lake up to Bear and Deer Lake crossing Camp Robber Creek the second day.
4. I am a 50 something woman in decent shape carrying a 35 lb pack.

Parking: the make shift parking area at the washout has room for a handful of cars. Turning around is a bit tight and could possibly be more challenging on a weekend. On Monday mid morning, there were only 2 cars parked there. I did note broken glass on the ground but it was not fresh.

Trail conditions:

Road section (first 4 miles, 800 elev gain): gravel road was in good condition with just a few spots requiring us to walk our bikes through short rocky sections and/or two minor blow downs.

Trail section (the start of the official trailhead, 2.5 miles, 900 elev gain to our mid-lake campsite at Dorothy Lake): Trial can be rocky and rooted in sections and brush-y. If it has rained, expect the huckleberry bushes to get you wet up to your torso in places. We enjoyed some wildflowers along the way. It was mostly a shaded hike through a pretty forest listening to the sound of the East Fork of the Miller River until we reached the outlet to Lake Dorothy. Then the trail leaves the river and follows the lake but you can't see the lake very much as the hillside is steep and the trail is above the lake. We logged 2.5 miles from official trailhead to our mid-lake campsite.

Trail from Dorothy to Bear Lake: 3 miles/6 miles RT, is steep and over grown in places. Nice views over Dorothy until you top out at the saddle and drop the last bit down to Bear Lake.

Backcountry toilets: Dorothy Lake: one near outlet, one mid-lake, and two located near the far end of the lake on either side of Camp Robber Creek and the flattest part of the shoreline. No toilets at Bear Lake. Didn't explore the shoreline of Deer Lake.

Creek Crossing at inlet to Dorothy Lake: (To hike beyond Dorothy Lake and up to Bear and Deer lake one must wade through the creek.) As of late June, the water level still requires wading not rock hopping. We brought water shoes and poles and they helped with the crossing. Water level was mid calf. A few slippery and loose rocks to watch out for but generally not a tricky crossing with water shoes. This is a pretty creek and we found some pretty pools of water just upstream from the trail and we took a dip in the river here after we hiked up to Bear/Dear lakes the second day. Creek is definitely colder than Dorothy Lake.

Campsites: map posted at the beginning of Dorothy Lake is worn, full of holes- See photo. In general, campsites off the trail (except several located at the inlet at the far end of the lake) are a bit hard to locate because the paths to them are overgrown with huckleberry bushes. The two campsites near the inlet- minutes before wading across the creek- are big, flat and easy to find. However, they are located at the marshy end of the lake and not good for swimming and the bugs!! Oh my. We opted to camp mid-lake, high up, overlooking the lake and catching the occasional breeze. It was a small site but just big enough for our small 2 person tent. We never found the campsites at the very end of the lake before the trail climbs to Bear Lake. It was so overgrown there. 

Lots of nice campsites at Bear Lake right off the trail and down by the lake but the smell was kinda gross. Glad we didn't plan on camping here.

***To the 3 ladies hiking in that we passed as we hiked out: we hope you found your REI 1 person tent that must have fallen off someone's pack! It was laying in the middle of the road half way along the 4 mile section of forest service road. We left it there hoping you will backtrack find it! 

This was a 2 night/3 day in/out backpack with camp set up at Snoqualmie Lake.  Just a couple things to add to previous reports:

1) Overall, this felt like a very challenging backpack to me.  The first 6 miles on the old road are not smooth sailing.  There are many stretches with rocks-not gravel- that require your attention as well as a few tricky creek crossings.  You gain 1300 ft in the last 2 miles with lots of rocks, roots, a handful of downed trees and more tricky water crossings.
2)  There is a backcountry toilet at Snoqualmie Lake that didn't show up on my GAIA. Yea!  It's just beyond the first big, beautiful campsite.
3)  There is another beautiful campsite .4 miles further on the trail.  It requires a 100+ ft drop via a rough trail.  Water access for swimming is great there-go all the way to the end of the peninsula- but there is no flowing water for drinking.  We filtered the lake water on our first night but made sure  to fill up at Bear Lake on our way back from Dorothy.
4)  The trail from Snoqualmie to Dorothy has a fair amount of overgrowth but is definitely passable.  You gain and lose about 1400 feet in 3 miles. 
5)  We swam in Snoqualmie, Dorothy and Bear.  Bear was the nicest!

Today I did a 20 mile hike to Deer and Bear Lake via Snoqualmie Lake and Otter, Big Creek falls.

at 7:45, the parking lot was almost full. The toilet at TH is very clean and stocked with TP.

The road from the Middle fork campground to the TH is rough, full of potholes but passable in any car.

The first half of the trail is flat till the fork of Nordrum and Snoqualmie Lake. 1 tricky water crossing.

Real fun begins after that, there are a lot of fallen trees to the Snoqualmie Lake and Bear Lake.
Couple of tricky water crossings. The trail is a little muddy and buggy, especially near the Lakes.

The Lakes weren't crowded at all, most crowd were to the Otter Falls.

Overall, It was a nice, long and tough hike! 🥵

19.61 miles/ 2933 ft of gain/ Took 8 hours 8 minutes.