We decided to visit the Mid Fork to see how the fall color was coming along. The Big Leaf Maples are unusually bright yellow this year in Issaquah and Northbend. Unfortunately they are way past prime in most of the Middle Fork valley.  

Ms Maddy has a torn CCL knee ligament but she was able to happily hop along 3 legs for the very easy Oxbow Loop.  (She is scheduled for knee surgery in November). The forest here is mature and beautiful with big maple and spruce.  There are also some humungous Doug Fir and Cedar stumps along the way.

Next stop was the just opened, brand new Garfield Ledges trail.  Ms Maddy sat this one out. Joe O from Mountain to Sound Greenway and his weekend crews did an amazing job building this trail from nothing over the past 3 years.  Having walked this route for years with out much of a trail, I have a great appreciation for how much work it took to carve this trail out of a very rugged landscape.  I kicked away a bunch of loose rocks along the way to show my appreciation. The view was great in spite of the rain.

Each of the trails was 1.9 mi

Now that it is open, I tried the new Garfield Ledges trail. It was wide and wonderful, short and steep with some very nice stairs and an excellent viewpoint as a reward at the end. (And end it does: there is no additional bootleg trail that continues past the viewpoint.) I returned the way I came but wanted more so I cut thru the closed-for-the-season MidFork CG, went on the CCC trail and then up past Nordrum Lookout, up Quartz Ridge and Vista. Those narrower Quartz Ridge (bootleg) trails are a bit of a contrast to the new Garfield Ledges which looks like it is built for the masses. Don't get me wrong, I love Quartz Ridge and someone has done a lot of work and should be proud of it. With just a bit of snow lingering, I got up to about 3000' before stopping. I came back down to the valley floor the way I came but then went to the MidFork TH and then took the new Middle Fork Connector along the Taylor river. Wow! there are some great viewpoints along there, looking up at Garfield. I crossed over the bridge again and got back to the van at the TH.

For next time: Repeat the same route but add in Stegosaurus Butte for a trifecta.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Garfield Ledges trail is now open. Did not see any signage stating otherwise. 

This is a pretty cool short trail to a nice view of the Middlefork Valley. Took Middlefork Connector from the north end of Middlefork Trail lot. 

Huge thank you to all who constructed or spent time working on this trail. Noticed many nice touches. Rock work at switchbacks look great! 

There is a quite slippery section that you may want to be careful on (mud). 

The new Garfield Ledges Trail is now open after a two year construction project by Mountains to Sound Greenway and the Forest Service up the Middle Fork Valley. This one mile trail gains about 600' in elevation. To make my hike a little longer I began from the Gateway Bridge parking lot about 1/2 mile away from the trailhead for Garfield Ledges. This way your legs get warmed up before starting up the hill to the ledges. The first section of the trail is covered in crushed rock, then turns to dirt. I hiked up through the second growth forest with a carpet of green moss. To get up through a rock area the trail builders put in four sets of wood and dirt stairs. At the top of the last stairs is a short walk out right to the lower ledge with a view. The trail continues up hill where it crossed over the old trail to upper ledge. I hiked the old trail 2 1/2 year ago. It was much steeper then the new one. Further up I walked between two old cedar stumps and got to the last switchback which had rock walls and poles to hold the trail in place. The trail then went through really rocky soil which would have been hard for the trail builders. At the upper ledge a flat spot had been build with a gabion wall holding up the dirt. A gabion wall is a wall built out of wire baskets filled with rocks. There are a few large rocks that can be used as seats. No benches or picnic tables. A sign at the ledge warns of not falling and says, "Keep Back". It is a long drop down. Some areas of the trail needed blasting when built.

I got to the upper ledge in time for lunch. The clouds were blowing in and out over the mountains in the area. It did open up so I could see the Taylor River far below and part way down the Middle Fork Valley. The sun even came out for a short time and no rain. After eating I headed back down with out seeing any other hikers. Probably will be more once the word gets out that the trail is now open. There were a few ribbons tied to bushes for future drainage work. The was one spot with clay soil that may need some crushed rock. 

There is a rest room at the trailhead where the trail takes off behind the building in the Taylor River parking lot. George

National Public Lands Day work party with Mountain to Sound  Greenway, WTA, US National Forest and other organizations.  Stairs have been put in and a nice switchback in an area where there was originally a climbing rope at the last work party I attended in May. Today is the soft opening for this trail but work is still going on to address some drainage issues. Please respect the trail signage.  The views at the ledges are spectacular.