I joined a WTA work party at Middle Fork Snoqualmie and arrived at the parking area around 7:30 AM. There are two privies in the large parking area and a Forest Service pass is required to park there. After our morning meeting, our large group hiked on the Middle Fork Trail for about 1 1/2 miles and started our work from there. Our work for the day was basic trail maintenance, which included digging and clearing drains of leaves and other debris, removing weeds and that were narrowing the trail corridor, and trimming large shrubs away from the trail. We worked in three groups and spread out along the trail. The part of the Middle Fork Trail that we covered today is dry and in good shape. There are some areas that could still use some brushing but otherwise there are no obstacles of note. 

After the work party, I decided to hike up to the viewpoint at Garfield Ledges. From the main (paved) parking lot, I hiked the Middle Fork Connector Trail, which is a short walk near the river that offers a couple of spots with nice viewpoints and in my opinion, is much nicer than walking along the road. The trail ends at a bridge that leads to the large parking area for the Garfield Ledges trailhead. I walked over the bridge and through the large parking area and found the trailhead near a privy. The Garfield Ledges trail is short but is pretty much up, up, and up to viewpoints of the Snoqualmie River valley. The trail is dry and in great shape with no obstacles of note. After some snacks at the viewpoint, I returned to the paved parking area following the same route. At the parking area I added some mileage to my hike by meandering around the river by the picnic areas and ended up with a four mile round trip hike. 

We camped at Muddle Fork so walked to the trailhead.  The trailhead is just past where the pavement ends, and there is plenty of parking.  It's a pretty rough drop at the end of the pavement so slow down at that point.  If you don't want to take your vehicle off pavement you can park on the right just before the pavement ends and walk across the bridge to the trailhead. 

We started around 3:30pm and there were no cars in the parking areas.  Bathroom at the trailhead.  This trail is short but climbs from the beginning until you reach the ledges.  At the top the views are amazing and there are a few spots to sit and take in the scenery.  We encountered one other group of 2 with a dog during our afternoon hike.  Overall this is a really nice trail, well maintained,  and a good view at the top. 

My daughter had the day off work today so we decided to hike up to Garfield Ledges. Even though we started out with clouds in the sky by the time we arrived at the top the view was beautiful. This is a lovely easy hike if you just need to get out for a short hike. I normally start at the Middle Fork parking lot to get about a 3.6 mile hike. Such a nice relaxing lunch at the top and we only ran into a couple of other groups of two up there.

We camped at the Middle Fork Campground over the weekend of June 15th-June 18th and hiked a few of the trails nearby during our stay. We hiked the Oxbow Loop Trail on June 16th and hiked both the CCC Trail and about .5 miles of the Garfield Ledges Trail on June 17th. 

The Oxbow Loop Trail is a fairly self-explanatory loop around Oxbow Lake. The best views are available from the .2 mile spur trail that is accessible from the overflow parking area (the second signed parking area if you are driving in from North Bend). The trail has a good variety of up and down but is currently overgrown in several areas and could use some brushing. Other than that, I did not observe any  obstacles of note. There is access to the shore of the Snoqualmie River and we decided to stop there for lunch. 

Since we were staying at the campground, we used the CCC Trailhead access near site #13. The CCC Trail can also be accessed from the Middle Fork parking area by walking directly across Middle Fork Road. This section of the CCC Trail is about 3 miles long and ends at another trailhead along Middle Fork Road. This section of the CCC Trail is in good shape with no obstacles to note. Much to our surprise, all the creek crossings were bone dry and therefore easily crossed. Thanks also to the WTA crew on the CCC Trail doing some brushing, bridge cleaning and rock projects! 

Lastly, we hiked to the first viewpoint about .5 miles in on the Garfield Ledges trail before inclement weather blew in late Saturday afternoon. The trailhead is located at the end of Middle Fork Road. The last bit of the road to the trailhead is not paved and crosses a bridge before you arrive at a large parking lot and picnic area. There are several large potholes on this section of the road, but if you don't want to deal with them, you can park at the paved Middle Fork parking area and follow the Middle Fork Connector Trail located at the NE corner of the parking area. That trail will lead you right up to the bridge and you just walk over the bridge to the trailhead. 

We arrived at the Snoqualmie Lake Trail #1002 parking lot around 0830 hours. The road getting there was not bad, but once you get closer and onto the gravel road, it is pothole city. The potholes are full of water, so it is hard to determine the depth of the pothole, so take your time driving around or over them because they are pretty significant. We watched a Lexus bottom out pretty hard. The parking lot only had about six vehicles parked when we arrived, but it was packed entirely after our hike at around 1300 hours from Otter Falls, and since it was still early in the day, why not go on another hike? So, we got into the car, drove to the next lot before the bridge, and decided on Garfield Ledges. It was a little challenging to find, for it was my first time in that area, but we found the trail. When you see The road going up to Goldmyer Hot Springs, the trail is adjacent from the beginning of the road, and the Garfield Ledges sign is located up a little way on the trail (just look up). The weather was wet, but once we got through hicking Otter Falls, the weather cleared up and gave us a beautiful view. The trail is well-maintained; prepare for the ultimate stair stepper once you're almost to the top. Overall the hike was easy, with some huffing and puffing for me, but the view was worth the short distance of the hike.