There is a temporary trailhead one mile from the normal trailhead because some big tree is blocking the road. Other than the tree, the road is in fine shape. There are many windfalls on the trail, a few forcing detours. Snow patches start at Camp Robber Creek, elevation 2550 feet. Lake Dorothy is 90% snow-covered and there is only about three feet of snow at the lake. The snow is undercut in many places. Watch your step. Trillium, skunk cabbage, yellow violet and vanilla leaf are out. A Steller's jay was seen. After spending an hour between Index and Sultan, then waiting at all the red lights in Monroe, I'm always entertained by that sign that tells me WSDOT has been studying the problem for the last twelve years. Remember, these are the folks that took 20 years to figure out that routing I-90 through the middle of North Bend wasn't such a bright idea. Big duh!

Had a nice hike yesterday. The road is relatively snow free until about 1.5 miles from the trailhead. The snow on the road should be gone in a week or so. About a mile from the trailhead a very large tree (~3 ft diameter) is down across the road and you'll have to walk from that point. The trail was patchy snow until you come to a small footbridge (about 20-30 minutes in). Past that point it was pretty much solid deep snow. Most people (including us) turned around at that point. A half dozen or so people went on to the lake and reported that it took them about an hour and a half of snow hiking and route finding to get to the lake. They said that the lake was still frozen over except for a small area near the outlet. The weather and the hike itself were quite lovely. The rivers and creeks are full of whitewater, but it didn't hinder hiking. We saw the smallest black bear I have ever seen right near the trailhead parking lot. It was about the size of a small dog and couldn't have weighed more than 40 pounds. We never saw its mother, but both of us and the cub headed in opposite directions pretty quickly.

Trail condition is good, although, as we left a Northwest Youth Conservation Corps group was leaving to do more trail maintenance. Beautiful hike to a lovely location. The road was apparently repaired in late August. Looks like a new ford in the road. No problem getting to the trailhead.

Go the Roos! I'll barrack for North Melbourne since the only way Seattle will get a championship team is when whining becomes a professional sport. The Cougs are OK but they should really play the footy. There have been plenty of improvements made to the Miller River Trail. The rowdy groups weren't at the lake; mostly families, which made for a nice change of pace. There are a few windfalls and one collapsed puncheon on the way to Bear Lake, but the trail is very pleasant. Bear Lake did have a group of rowdies, but since I was encamped down at Deer, the ridge broke the noise. There are many windfalls between Bear and Snoqualmie Lakes and there are some brushy sections by Snoqualmie. This is a very nice alternative to the brush monster that 1002 is becoming in from Taylor River. No campfires allowed anywhere due to the extreme fire danger.

Even though the marine clouds covered the Seattle area once past Index the skys were clear. The trail to Dorothy Lake is in good shape. Except for some minor mud and water near the end, the trail was dry. My nine year old made it without difficulty. My five year old had to be carried over the rocky portions near the end. Some of the trail is difficult for people with such short legs. The lake looked great and the trout were active. There is water over the road about 1 mile from the trailhead (30' wide 6-8"" deep). Our truck made it though without any problem and we saw that several smaller sedan were also able to negotiate it. Besides that small obstacle, the trail is fine.