Snow present down in the oxbow loop, but only started covering the trail around 1300 ft up CCC. Inch deep maximum. Coming down wet and fluffy.

I parked at the CCC parking just before the gravel road section and hiked back to the Bessemer Road connection, then back to the car, then drove out with a detour to Oxbow Loop.

On the way back I saw a bit of fresh(?) scat and then ran into a crossbow hunter heading up for the evening, ran it by him and he said it was likely either cougar, bobcat, or coyote. I agree, it was clearly carnivore. Like my kittycat at home, but greyer, full of fur and bigger... And right in the middle of the trail, which if it was my cat would be a clear "hey you, get out" territorial marker. I didn't notice it on the way up, but it was also much more difficult to see looking in that direction so I don't know if its owner was there while I was. So after that tentative ID I decided to skip Pratt Balcony since it was pretty foggy and I don't hike with a crossbow of my own, and did the oxbow loop on the way out instead.

Both CCC and Oxbow Loop seem like super winter hikes. Enjoyable foliage, fungi and water with opportunities to peep the beautiful mountains during potential cloud breaks without wasting lots of effort to climb into the inside of a ping pong ball. However there were not so many opportunities to do so that I would pick these trails on a clearer day with views as the main goal. At least without proceeding to Pratt Balcony. Both trails were in excellent condition as was the road.

DNR outhouses are still open, NFS outhouses are closed.

Saw a small herd of elk crossing the road near the jct with 468th on the way out.

We headed up the Middle Fork Road out of North Bend for a hike on the loop trail around Oxbow Lake. We started from the parking lot with the rest rooms. They are open while the Forest Service ones further up the road are all closed. Hiking the connector trail over to the loop trail where we found three larger trees fallen over the trail. Part way on this trail we had a good view down to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River and Russian Butte. This time we did the loop part of the hike clock wise where we found many trees that had fallen over the trail. Most you can step over, but one we had the crawl under. The side trail down to the river did not have any fallen trees on it. When we got to the big bridge over the outlet of Oxbow lake, we saw that one huge Cottonwood tree had blown over, luckily toward the river. If it had come down the opposite way, it would have taken out the bridge.

Further along the trail we passed one really large old growth Red Cedar stump left from the days when the North Bend Timber Co. logged this part of the Middle Fork Valley between 1922 to 1924. The logs were hauled out by their logging railroad. Along the trail you have nice views of Oxbow Lake and the mountains to the north. We stopped at the log bench for a snack break to enjoy the view. While sitting there we spotted two otters in the lake, they climb up on a log in the water, and walked down it and jump back into the lake. First time we had seen any otters in Oxbow Lake as we had hike this trail a few times in the past. There were more fallen trees to get over before finishing the loop park of the trail.

We met a few other hikers out enjoying the day in the sun and the 37F temp. One guy was trying to find his dog who was running up and down the trail. The dog almost knocked Sally over as it came up behind her.

After finishing this hike, we drove up the road to Camp Brown for our lunch at a picnic table by the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River with a nice view of Garfield Mtn. Since it was cool, we had hot soup and cocoa. 

We sent some photos to Sam and Ben at the DNR showing the blown down trees around the Oxbow Loop trail. They will need a chainsaw to cut them out.

We hiked this trail on Saturday Nov 13th. Roads are in great condition to the trail head but trail itself has 4-5 blowdowns and fallen trees that block the trail. Most of them are passable but the first one you hit when you do the trail in clockwise direction is the most difficult one. The blocking tree comes is a bit above my waist height and may not be easy for everyone to pass over the tree or around. There is no room to go under the tree either. Otherwise all good. 

Relaxing stroll, we enjoyed the mossy trees and yellow maples! Trail is in excellent condition and not muddy at all. Saw only 1 other group of hikers on a drizzly Saturday. The smell of autumn is spicy and rich on this trail. Thankful to Mama Nature for short, accessible hikes like this! Tip - also explore the very short river trail, which only adds a few minutes but affords a nice river view.

Trail loops around an oxbow shaped pond with a very short spur leading to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. 1 car in parking lot when we arrived, 3 cars in lot after we left. Pleasant little stroll.