After a January move to our new home and finially settling in, my wife and I were busting at the seams to get outdoors. WOW promised a perfect Saturday and we decided to drive the Middle Fork to Taylor River and our favorite early spring destination, Otter Falls. The Middle Fork road is free of snow all the way to Taylor River. That section of the road in the national forest is in poor shape but passable. We left the trail head at 10:00am wondering if we would meet the hikers of the two cars that proceeded us. That's the neat thing about Taylor River is all the various destinations. In 1997 we hiked to Otter Falls the first week of April. Considering we hiked two weeks earlier this year, I would say the snow levels are fairly comparable. The snow starts quickly and grows from a few inches to three feet by Marten Creek and three to four feet by the outlet to Lipsy Lake. One hundred yards past the outlet we turned toward the falls and arrived at the campsite above the SE corner of the lake. Just below the campsite we saw a deer skull placed as a marker on a tree branch. The falls and lake were beautiful. The lake is 3/4 frozen and a lot of water was coming down the falls. The snow was unbroken giving us the feeling we were the first hikers to visit this year. After a long lunch the skies began to get hazy and we decided to head back. We never did meet the two other hikers. One probably went to Big Creek and the other made tracks to Marten Lake. We finially made it back to our car by 6:00pm. My wife used her snow shoes and was quicker then I was without having them. The snow is still soft in spots, especially past Marten Creek. It should get harder in the next week or so. All the streams were passable and there are no major obstacles on the trail. We crossed a snow bridge over the outlet to Lipsy Lake, I don't think it will last much longer.

Hiked the Taylor River trail to Snoqualmie Lake. Nothing much to report on the Taylor River trail up to the trail junction where the trail splits to Snoqualmie Lake or Nordrum Lake. The lower part of the trail is fairly rocky. The extra mileage to Otter Falls is well worth it. The falls are spectacular. Made it to the trail junction at 6 miles in a fairly quick 2 hours. However, the remaining 1.7 miles to Snoqualmie Lake took me another hour. The creek bed, I mean trail, is more like a stream than a trail. The trail is overgrown with brush in many places. Route finding is required in the upper reaches of the trail. Look for the the stacked rocks that mark the trail. A good pair of boots is essential as well as rain gear when going through the brush. After the rain on Friday, I would have been soaked without it. The Lake is pretty with good camping spots. Watch yourself on the way down. It would be easy to break a leg. On the way down ran into a group of hikers who wanted to know what was ahead. They didn't have a map. Also ran into two young ladies in shorts and tennis shoes, without water or any other provisions. They informed me they were going to Snoqualmie Lake. Hopefully, I talked them into only going to Otter Falls. A good hike if you want a 15 mile round trip and a little adventure. The entire trip took about 6.5 hours. The trail to Snoqualmie Lake is in need of some serious work.

Left the car at the trailhead at Taylor River. To get there hang left at the bifurcation of the gravel road right past the huge parking lot for the Middle Fork of Snoqualmie trail. The first few miles follow an old logging road along Taylor River. A bit rocky in spots but wide and hardly slopping at all. Things change a bit when you get to where the trail splits into the one to Snoqualmie Lake to the left and Nordrum Lake to the right. There are a few downed trees and the higher you go the more you have to share the trail with cheerful little and not-so-little creeks running down the slope. What with the washouts and the bushes we ended up loosing the trail a couple of times but found our way quickly again. With just a day pack it was easy enough but I would not recommend the upper part of the trail for kids. Couple of nice waterfalls on the way, some beatiful old growth higher up. The lake is still 3/4 covered with ice and there is snow on the trail leading past the lake to Lake Dorothy. All in all a great hike and reaching the lake weas well worth the effort even though we got thoroughly soaked from the rain.

Snow patches began appearing on the trail at 1400 feet (1.0 miles). Snowshoes were not required for travel to Otter Falls, but would be probably needed for travel beyond. I was originally planning to go to Marten Lake, but spotted some fresh cougar tracks at 2400 feet. I like Cougars in the Rose Bowl, but not on the trail. Snowshoes are required for travel to Marten Lake. Deterred by the cougar, I opted for my secondary objective, Otter Falls. Otter Creek at 4.0 miles is not running anywhere near as strongly as last year. All the water was draining through the culvert. The trail to Otter Falls is to the left about 500 feet beyond the creek. There was very little snow by the falls. There is less snow than there was at the end of April last year. http://www.geocities.com/~rangermike

Taylor River road to Otter Falls has always been a great early season hike. Last year my wife and I did the hike 4/5/97. This year I took a new coworker recently transplanted from back east. We arrived at the trailhead at 9:15am and hit the trail by 9:30am. The temperature was just above freezing, but unlike last year, there was no snow on the trail for the first several miles. The snow on the trail is minimal until just before Otter falls, and all the streams are running low. Jerry and I crossed the outlet stream from Lipsy lake, traveled about 100 yards, and turned left into the woods up to Otter Falls. Lipsy Lake has a very thin coat of ice and the falls are waiting for warmer temperatures for the water volume to pick up. We took a lunch on the west shore, and while I was putting on mole skin to cover a couple of hot spots from a new pair of boots, Jerry said he wanted to get a closer look at the falls. Assuming my friend was sunning on a rock, and my view blocked by trees, my friend had started to climb the rock face of Otter Falls. You don't need to hear the sound of a body falling down a rock face twice to know what it is. I immediately grabbed my first aid kit, scrambeled around the west end of the lake, up twenty feet of rock, and found my friend. Jerry had managed to get almost half way up the smooth rock face before falling and sliding aproximately 200 feet. By the grace of god he was in one banged up piece. Stating this was the most stupid thing he had ever done, he described how the rock face had gotten so smooth he ran out of holds, and fell trying to retrace his steps. Jerry learned a valuable lesson and so did I. Don't assume, and don't let your hiking partner out of your site. After a long break to regain our wits, Jerry felt game enough to continue to Big Creek before heading back. The trail to the concrete bridge over Big Creek is covered with two to three feet of snow, the bridge is bare. During the hike we saw signs of many rabbits and a few hungry bobcats. On the way back we saw three other parties. The first party was a pair of well equipped backbackers we met after recrossing Marten Creek. I was more then suprised when they told me their destination was LaBohn Gap! LaBohn Gap does not sound like Snoqualmie Lake. As they repeated their destination I stated they were on the wrong trail, but was cut off with the explanation they had been this way before but not this early in the season. A very bizarre day.