Made a longer loop today by extending our trip to Garfield Ledge via the Middlefork Connector. A great day to be out! 

CCC is in wonderful shape, only noticed one hanging overhead tree that really should be taken out. All the rad log furniture is in place for your break along the river on the connector trail. Getting over to the beginning of the ledge trail is a  short walk across the bridge over the Taylor River. The way up to the viewpoint is simple and straight forward, easily done by most at the light elevation gain and short mileage. 

On the return trip we opted to cut through the Middlefork Campground. Can't really ask for a nicer spot if you want to car camp. Pretty quiet overall, saw half a dozen others between the ledge and on the end of the CCC headed back. I can't really overstate how beautiful and lush this portion of CCC is, never a disappointment. 

RT 9.1m/1394ft

This is a trip report for Marten Lake, but I'm tagging several other trails in the area because the lost objects described at the end of this report might well belong to people who visited one or more of the other trails:

No report in over a month, which feels like a long time for a trail that's clearly been getting decent traffic (including at least a half dozen people on the boot path portion today alone). Anyway, my report is as follows: there is much less snow now than there was when the previous trip report was published.

I made it to the lake without taking snowshoes, microspikes, or gaiters out of my pack. I did see one man at the lake wearing microspikes, so I suppose it can't hurt to come prepared. I lost the trail a few times here and there, even though I've been here several times before, so be prepared to poke around until you find it, or come with a map or an app.

Finally, I took home three items that I saw on the way up and were still sitting out on the way down. (Didn't think leaving them to the elements would be helpful.) Comment below with some detail/description of the item you think might be yours and we can figure out how to get it back to you:

1) A glove, found at the Snoqualmie Lake trailhead

2) A knit hat, found at the last pullout where the pavement ends (just before the bridge leading to the Garfield Ledges parking lot)

3) A headlamp, in the same location as item (2). The headlamp was *on* when I found it, so it was the only one of these three items that didn't look like it had already been there for some time. I turned it off and left it on the hood of my white car (where it would be very visible), but when I got back down, the other cars parked nearby were all gone and the headlamp was still there

Hiked today Feb 10th, for sunrise. 

This is a fantastic winter hike for hikers close to Seattle.

The road in was clear of any debris or snow. arrived at the trailhead 6am. It took about 40mins to get to the ledge in the dark, 

Facilities are open and the entire trail is snow free. 

There are a few blowdowns but they're easy to navigate around. 

One thing I'll mention is that the wood on the steps are slick.  One person in out party took a little fall on the way back down so hike cautiously. 

Sunrise was nice but the view faces North so we didnt actually see the Sun. 

Nonetheless it was beautiful.  I attached a YT vid if you would like to check it out.https://youtu.be/lYO0Q_qxQdM

Wonderful ledges, never gets old. Great little hike and nice reward.

After my last recent walk here, I decided to bring my 6yo kiddo out for some sunlight. The paved road is now completely clear; some navigable potholes in the gravel section, but nothing I couldn’t dodge easily. No slush, ice, or snow.

The few fallen logs across the trail are easy for able-bodied hikers and children to step over (or under), and would be minimally challenging for handheld mobility aids. Almost no mud. 

The ledges really grab every drop of winter sun— we sat there soaking it in for almost an hour. We found another little sunbather too, a groggy garter snake who really enjoyed sitting on a warm human lap for a while! (If you interact with wildlife, please be sure that you handle it safely and return it to exactly where you found it; if you’re not very familiar with safe handling, it’s best just to enjoy with your eyes alone. Garter snakes are NOT venomous and very rarely bite at all, but they do require safe body weight support, have delicate bones, and are highly vulnerable to predation by birds at this time of year.)