The plan was to go dink around all day at Lord Hill, but when I got to the south lot I discovered some kind of race event going on. Lots of people, so I headed out to Marckworth Forest. Yes, it's boring - but that's why nobody goes there!

Parked at DNR1020 again, and walked past the gorge. Took the spur road on the right down the hill til I ran out of road. Found a bootpath down to Youngs Creek, then followed the creek all the way down to the confluence with Elwell Creek. Well, almost. Got within sight of it anyway, but the last part down the cliff didn't look too inviting. Still, I'm going to scratch this off the Next Time list. (I don't know why it was on there in the first place, but for some reason I wanted to go there.)

Anyway, had a fun day of exploring, and didn't see a soul all day. And no, Chuck, this wasn't on a trail, so expect LOTS of blowdowns, several muddy stream crossings - oh, and potholes on the road in. 

Just so you know, the WTA instructions are misleading. Where it says you can go through a gate and meetup with a junction of the Tolt Pipeline, this is private property, no trespassing, violators will be prosecuted. So you can forget the next few paragraphs about the Old Swimming Hole, bridge over the Tolt River, etc. On the bright side, we did find that by continuing up the logging road there were fantastic views of the Cascades, Mt. Rainier, the Snoqualmie Valley, etc. Not a bad hike and I will return here again!

Half day hike on Friday November 27. 

Explored the road heading south toward Swans Mill Pond. Very quiet. Followed it up father and around near a gated clear cut for a sandwich. This forest is a little spooky and beautiful. Totally "worth" it! 

RT 4.3m/470ft

You would think, given the number of reports that I've done for this place, that there has got to be something out there worth the trip. Uh ... nope, not really. Just a maze of logging roads and clearcuts and scraggly young firs. But also a heck of a lot of solitude - I didn't see anyone all day.

However, if you dare to explore a bit, there is some cool stuff out there... 

After seeing a picture of a curious gorge that I was told was "outside of Monroe," I began the hunt. Nothing quite like a lowland second growth scavenger hunt. McCoy creek was the likely suspect, but thanks to Brian's site I located a pictureless entry of a gorge just a mile away. Well, it wasnt McCoy, but it was coincidentally the northern trailhead of Marckworth forest, a place I've had on the backburner for a winter day. Since the front edge of a storm was about to roll in before dark, I figured it was the perfect scouting time. Looking at a few trip reports I found the Elwell Cliffs to compliment the drive out (thanks mato!). The last few miles of road require a recreation pass (discover) as it is private property with an easement or something. Also very active logging, six trucks ripped around me.

Walking to a clearing in the trees, I was surprised to find myself on top of a significant cliff that appeared to stretch the entire half mile of the west edge of Elwell Hill.

I'd looked at a relief map prior and noted three possible outcroppings, on the north, middle, and south edges. The northern one was the best - a view north and across the monroe valley to Pilchuck, Three Fingers, and the Mtn Loop. The middle outcropping was not so great. The southernmost outcropping just before going downhill and back was a pleasantly large landing that had evidently seen lots of use. Bizarrely, there was what appeared to be a van in the woods at the bottom.  This outcropping had views across the Elwell Valley but was not particularly high up, so you couldn't over the opposing hill west. It did have faint views of Bellevue, and the Issaquah Alps were prominent in the background. Supposedly Rainier peeks out too.

The road walk back was long and not particularly interesting.  Jogging back to beat the rain, I startled a grouse. I did spot what I believed to be the footpath, and even the flagging at the end of the CAT track which was much closer to the main road than I thought. Id recommend forging NW into the woods just after a steep (ish) incline from the first triangle when the road bends south. 

Nothing to write home about, but the solitude was nice and the parking lot was beautiful. I'll probably be back to check some more high points in the winter.