Hiked with RWHG members, including Outside Nancy (see her trip report). The road has multiple potholes, but it is passable. Outhouse at the trailhead. The trail is wide for much of the journey, a gentle sloping incline near the river through the mossy forest replete with spring wildflowers and new growth. Pay attention to your foot placement because of exposed loose stones on sections of the trail. Poles are helpful for stream crossings. The scramble up and over the hill to Lipsy Lake is rewarded with a pleasant lunch spot, with a view of Otter Falls. This would be a great place to dip your feet in warmer weather.

Another entry in my mission to hike everything along Middle Fork.

Arrived at trailhead @ 9:00 A.M., to a mostly full parking lot - we had to park down the road a wee bit.  The last quarter mile or so of the road is very bumpy with potholes - low clearance vehicles beware!  Our friend's old Toyota Camry seemed to fare well enough.  Trailhead bathroom was clean and in good condition with plentiful T.P., but no soap/sanitizer.

A beautiful warm, sunny morning.    Pacific trillium & salmon berry everywhere.  Trail was rather busy this morning, with a lot of large parties, but the trail is wide enough where it never seemed like a conga line.  Spirits were high and the good cheer was contagious!  Also noticed a few groups of trail bikers, and a lot of off-leash dogs today.

The trails climb was near imperceptible, and so made for a wonderful opportunity for gabbing and catching up with friends.  The trail was very dry, save for the several stream crossings.  In two instances the water is ankle deep as you hop from stone to stone, and the streams had a healthy flow, so poles are recommended.  

The turn off for Otter Falls comes directly after one such crossing, ~4 miles in.  There is a small tree-mounted sign on your left that is easy to miss, which directs hikers towards some meandering social trails climbing up through the open forest to Lipsy Lake & Otter Falls.  The falls are unique and gorgeous, and we shared the lake with a few other groups while we lunched and goggled at the climbers working their way up the rock face of the falls.   It being my birthday weekend, I took a quick frosty dip in Lipsy Lake - holding out hope that this is the fabled fountain of youth?

I noticed a lot of dispersed campsites along this trail, especially a group of about 6 or so right after the bridge @ the trailhead.  But there are a few signs at the trailhead and along the access road which announce that Dispersed camping is closed in these areas.  A little Internet sleuthing has led me to believe it is because of high bear activity in these areas?  If anyone has further information about this please let me know!

Met a few groups of 2 to 3 folks headed up for overnighting @ Snoqualmie Lake.   Overall, the trail was very clean - I only needed to pick up one dog poop bag (right by the trailhead, per usual).

Parking lot was about half full when we returned to the car @ 1:00 PM.

A quick overnight trip to Snoqualmie Lake. The road is quite pot holey after the bridge but should be fine for any vehicle as long as low clearance cars go slow. As stated in the previous report from a couple of days ago, there's no snow until 1/4 mile from the lake & a dozen or so blow downs, which are all easy to deal with. Lots of post holing when we arrived at the lake around 3pm. It was solid on the way out in the morning. The snow is intermittent until you get to the lake proper. We didnt use spikes but I guess you could if you want to keep taking them on & off. There are two snow free campsites. One camp is right above the outlet stream as you get to the lake. The other is right on the lake. We got all of our drinking water from the outlet stream. The lake is 90% frozen. There is lots & lots of water from all of the seasonal streams along the trail for drinking.

• Getting there: the road is paved almost the whole way to the trailhead but has some pretty bad potholes at the end where it turns to gravel. Seemed passable for most cars if you drive slowly enough though.
• Trail conditions: Creek crossings were all low enough to cross without getting feet wet at all. We only went as far as Otter Falls, so don't know about conditions beyond that. The falls had a good flow of water.
• Activity level: We saw only a few groups on the way in, and it was a bit busier in the afternoon on the way back, though not overly crowded.
• A great flat hike with a beautiful destination! It took us 3hr40min including a lunch break at the falls, walking at a good clip most of the time.
• Note: we saw a weird bird that looked a bit like a gray catbird but was swimming and diving in the pond below Otter Falls! Does anyone know what it could have been? Maybe an American Dipper?

The last stretch of the road to the trailhead is not maintained, but should be fine with a decent clearance vehicle.

Parking was not an issue at noon on a Saturday.

There are creek crossings that might be hard to navigate without waterproof shoes, but nothing harsh enough to block the trail.

Car to car time was 4 hours.