Three of us started from the trailhead around 8:20 for a lovely rainy hike to both falls. The short gravel road near the bridge is quite potholed but in the rain, very visible. Fortunately, it's not a very long stretch of road before you're back on pavement. One downed tree near Oxbow Lake was already removed by the time I drove out.

There were a surprising number of cars (8-9) already in the lot when I arrived after my hiking partners, and driving out around 1 p.m. most of the trailheads along the Middle Fork had cars in them. I visited both the Otter Falls trailhead latrine and the one at Oxbow Lake and both were fully stocked and clean.

The last stream before Otter Falls is running quite high, so having trekking poles would be a great idea for anyone wanting additional support with footing. I carried mine in my pack, but I didn't want to mess with my rain cover, so I grabbed a few loose sticks floating in the stream that did just fine.

The trail is quite muddy right now but passable everywhere. Prepare to get wet! The grade is lovely and gradual; we hardly noticed we were going up. Both Falls have plenty of water -- this was my first time hiking to Big Creek Falls, and I'm excited to see how both falls change through the seasons.

This was a scouting trip for a November outing I'll be leading and I learned that my rain shell is no longer waterproof. Fortunately, I have another that will do for winter. I used gaiters over my Keens and my feet remained dry the whole hike despite a steady drizzle. My phone, however, sucked battery power in the cold so I'll have to do something about that. Great opportunity to test my gear for wet, cold winter trips.

Most other hikers on the trail had dogs with them, making me miss my own at home. One person was coming out with an overnight pack. Maybe 15-18 people? Saw two downy woodpeckers and heard some golden-crowned kinglets but with all the stream, rain, and conversation noise we didn't hear a lot of birdsong. Still a lot of mushrooms, and some cool mossy rocks for photo ops including the one attached. All in all a lovely outing. 

I took my aging dog with me to scout out Otter Falls for a possible  Mountaineers trip later this fall, and I was surprised to learn it had 1150' gain as the grade is so gentle, it almost felt flat. Our pace averaged 2.5-3 mph with 20# pack (8.16 miles in 2:45 moving time.) We had fog and a light misting rain for most of the morning. Having never ventured past Granite Creek before, I was happy to see white lines and new pavement -- while the road is curvy, even in fog it felt manageable.

On the trail, leaves are falling everywhere, which can make the wet rocks a little treacherous. Pay attention to where you step. We enjoyed the spooky atmosphere of the fog and rain.

This is an area I've never explored before. It reminded me of Granite Creek farther down the road -- the sound of running water was with us the entire hike -- and Mt. Washington's rocky footing though without Washington's unrelenting grade. I enjoyed seeing the "surprise" waterfall about 2 miles in (at the first bridge) and wondered what Quartz Creek and Dog Mountain were like. More places to explore in the coming weeks.

We didn't see anyone else on the trail except a fisherman arriving as we packed up to leave at 11. The road for the last 1/2 mile is a little potholed, but not too bad. The outhouse is still open and well stocked with tissue.

By marking "fall foliage" I'm referring to yellows and browns. If you're looking for the vibrant reds and oranges of higher alpine trails you won't find them on this hike. I also would not recommend this for anyone who doubts their footing or is nervous about rolled ankles. If that rings a bell, be sure to bring poles. While the grade is tame, most of the trail is pretty rocky and although the stream crossings are passable right now, I can see how early spring would pose problems. Lots of mushrooms right now but we only heard 7 bird species (including tons of robins, kinglets, and a few varied thrushes) and tons of chipmunks. No bears. 

Got up to the summit of Morpheus today via the Taylor River trail, and the trail up to Anderson Lake. The steep trail up to Anderson is in pretty good shape, considering what it is, a steep fisherman’s climbing path. For more details on this trail see my Nov 3, 2023 trip report for Dog Mountain. https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2023-11-03.8415882523

The toughest part of this climb was the bushwhacking from Anderson Lake up to the ridge. It was hard to avoid the super steep head high brush to gain the ridge. Up towards the ridge there is a huge talus field, which thankfully made gaining the ridge a bit easier.

Once around this ridge, I could see the traverse I had ahead of me to get to Morpheus. The best way to get over there is to stay around 4900ft and follow some nice benches. On the way there I got a bit high in places, and had a bunch of unnecessary ups and downs. On the way back I stayed more low, and it was a bit quicker heading back.

At the base of the summit block, there are two steep gullies to get up to the east side of the summit. I took the lower one, which looked easier. It was fairly straightforward until the last 30 ft. Here it was some super steep duff with a bad runout. I put micro spikes on, which helped with the ascent, and definitely helped descending this part. After getting past this part, it was just a steep 200ft class 2 scramble up the summit. Awesome views from the summit of so many Middle and North Fork Snoqualmie peaks!! Great view also looking down at Dream Lake, which is a hard lake to get to. Couldn’t find the summit register. 
Pretty much took the same route back, staying a bit lower on the traverse back, and finding a couple better routes down to Anderson Lake from the ridge. I used micro spikes getting down the bushwhack to Anderson Lake, which helped immensely. I also left the micro spikes on for the steep descent all the way down to the Taylor River Trail. 
Great trip to a seldom visited peak. I started at 8:50am and finished at 6:45 pm. Didn’t see anyone all day! 12.8 miles with 5200ft gain

Desperate for an overnight in an otherwise busy weekend, we departed home around 5 p.m. on Friday with hopes to get in a micro overnight at Otter Falls. Success!

The trailhead had maybe 20 cars when we arrived, with clean garbage clans and a clean toilet, stocked with TP. It was much busier when we left Saturday morning, but the bathroom was still in good shape.

Not many folks out on a Friday night. We had the trail mostly to ourselves, when we explored Otter Falls close to sundown. We opted to camp about .25 west from the falls in a nice flat spot off trail.

Highlights: the fungus among us. Lots of old porcini, old (and fresh) chicken of the woods, and lobster mushroom in a variety of conditions. 

I've had this hike on my list for quite a while, but the log crossing over the Taylor River always gave me pause. Today, I decided it was finally time to give it a shot, hoping that late in the season, I might be able to rock hop or even ford the river barefoot if needed. I also figured that with the three-day weekend, many people would be venturing farther afield, leaving the Taylor River Trail a bit quieter.

When I arrived at the trailhead around 9:30 AM, I was pleasantly surprised to find the parking lot less than half full. This was a promising start as I always value solitude on the trail.

And then, success! At the river crossing, there are currently three logs to choose from, but if logs aren't your jam—rock hopping is entirely possible. No need to worry about getting wet this time of year!