The Miller River road is snow-free and clear of blow-downs all the way to Dorothy Lake trailhead. The trail is free of snow up to the bridge at the falls about 3/4 mile in. The river was raging like I've never seen it before. The roar was almost deafening. The bridge itself was shaking and quivering in an unsettling fashion. The deep but intermittent snow starts right after the bridge. I followed the trail more or less for another 1/2 mile before I was forced to turn back due to two factors: I could no longer see any semblance of the trail, and the post-holing was of truly epic proportions. It was more like man-holing. At one point I broke through with both feet and sank in up to my armpits with my feet dangling in the space under the snow. The whole area was rife with rotten snow-bridges and collapsing snow surfaces. It was much too dangerous for a lone hiker of such considerable body mass as myself. Someone in the 100-150 lb range would probably have been ok. Still, this hike is so excellent right from the start that it would be a good choice for a short jaunt just to see the falls. The drive in on Miller River road has numerous scenic spots worth seeing. I finished up early, so I decided to do a little road exploring. The road to East Fork Foss river is snow-free to the trailhead, as is the road to Blanca Lake (F.S.63). There is a large tree blocking this road further up towards the trailhead for Quartz Creek, West Cady Ridge, and North Fork Skykomish. A very nice one-mile road walk would be necessary to access these trails.

The trail to Dorothy Lake is in need of some vital repairs. WTA has worked it a couple of times this year, and there are some nice new turnpikes, crib steps and other structures from previous years; but much of the trail is one long root-filled, rocky mess. The Forest Service is planning to upgrade the trail soon and survey stakes line the trail laying out the extensive work that needs to be done. It's a short trip to Dorothy Lake, but the lake must be one of the longest natural lakes in the Cascades (I wonder if any one has compiled such as list). It seemed like it took almost as long to walk the length of the lake as it did to hike to the lake. The trail follows high above and to the east of the lake passing nice, secluded campgrounds along the way. Cross a foot log at the end of the lake. Take a close look at the log before you cross it. I hope the Forest Service is planning to replace this thing too. I wouldn't rely too much on the rusty cable that passes for a railing when crossing the log. I headed up over the pass and down toward Bear Lake. The trail from Bear Lake on down to Snoqualmie Lake is not much better. The portion from Deer to Snoqualmie is the worst. It follows long, wet, muddy switchbacks down to the lake. I continued on to the south end of Snoqualmie Lake before turning back - I had a fair amount of elevation to buy back if I wanted to get home. There's now snow on the trail anywhere, all the lakes are open and the bugs aren't bad yet. I found a nice spot by Bear Lake to sit and space-out for a while. I was surrounded by patches of marsh marigolds and Jefferson's shooting-stars. Zeek's at 7:00pm was good - spicy chicken strips with French fries, but they should really offer onion rings as a substitute.

These popular trails sure are great Monday hikes. There were just two cars at the trailhead, and I saw only one person until the very end, when I ran into a van full of Forest Service folks. I started on the trail to Dorothy Lake, which is in good condition. The trail climbs a little above the lake and goes seemingly forever next to the long lake. Then it climbs up and up. I barely made it to Bear Lake, which has a little snow on the far banks. Also just a little snow on the trail, but easy travel. Just after passing Bear Lake, I cried out ""Oh Dear"" because suddenly, there is Deer Lake. Mumbling these ultra-corny ramblings, I kept going to Snoqualmie Lake, which looks to have some pretty nice camps, then down to the junction with the Taylor River trail. By this point, I'm suffering from my recent lack of hiking and still had to do the ""retour"". Luckily, I found the energy reserves to climb back from 1800' to 3700', then drop back down to the 2200' trailhead where the lake-filled journey began (interspersed with a few chats with the various lakes).

Lake Dorothy Trail Report Sat. May 26th, no trees down or other trail obstacles, a few small snow patches on the south lake shore, tread very rocky and rooty. Those are the bare facts. Now for my subjective opinions and observations on this beautiful place. The Lake Dorothy trail has Old growth forest, river, waterfalls, a large alpine lake, mountain views, flowers, and fine campsites as it's main attractions. It's very popular but that doen't make the trip any less beautiful. This weekend is barely 2 weeks since snow melt for most of the trail so only early flowers are in bloom: glacier lily, bleeding heart, stream violet, mertensia, salmonberry, and trillium. Many many hundreds of perfect trillium . Miller river and Camp Robber creek were both very high after a week of warm weather, so the waterfalls at the steel bridge overlook were spectacular. In the forest giant old Cedar and Douglas fir share space with Silver fir, Vine maple, Devils club, and thousands of Huckleberry bushes [a purple mouthed treat in late August]. Very few insects were out yet. We saw a few small animals and birds : chipmunck , woodchuck, grey jay, thrush, junko, and blue butterflies . There is a wonderfull view uplake from the logjam at the outlet featuring Big Snow Mtn. Once reaching the lake the trail parallels it along the south side with views, gentle dips and rises, campsites, and generally better tread than the first 2 miles. We ate lunch near the inlet end of the lake in a fine unused campsite. My group of Mountaineer new hikers were tired but happy at the end of the day. This hike is featured in Best Hikes With Children in Western Washington by Joan Burton. Stats : 7 miles 1000 ft gain 3 hours up 2:40 down.

The access road to the trailhead is in good condition except for some water runoff that must be forded. Don't worry; it's not very deep and almost any vehicle should be able to cross. The trail itself is in good condition. We made it to Lake Dorothy (which is totally snow-free) and then hiked on the trail as it follows the east shore of the lake. We went about two-thirds of the way down the lake and only encountered a few remnants of snow. Bugs were minimal. A very nice, moderately easy hike with outstanding views of river rapids and a picturesque alpine lake.