Taylor River Trail is clear and quite nice. The droves are out already. Popular place. We continued on to Lk Snoqualmie. We were hoping to scout the trail for a possible thru hike from I-90 to Hwy 2 with this trail. It's definitely doable. Lk Snoqualmie trail however is a bit rugged. A lot of the trail is on current run off/stream beds and if we weren't having such dry weather right now, I'm not sure how bad it could get. As well, the old boardwalks are mostly rotted and are potentially hazardous. Rat Packer stepped on a ""see-saw"" board and could have seriously injured an ankle. A couple of stream crossings are on logs, one of them a good 5 feet above the stream. Not for the faint of heart. The trail is pretty tho. Check out the super cool canyon the river has carved out about a mile from the lake. Follow the rock cairn markers at the boulder field crossings. The lake is still a bit frozen over and there is a little snow, but camp sites are clear and scenic. Temps on the trail were around 60. At the lake it got probably down to 30-35 overnight. It looks like the trail is slated for repair and some reroutes, judging by recently placed hot pink flags. Thanks WTA! : )

Starting at the Taylor River Trail head at 10:00.We hiked like the wind to the junction of Snoqualmie lk and Nordrum lk.Taylor River TH to the junction is snow free with a small creek crossings.I headed up to Snoqualmie lk and my hiking buddy tried to cross the river to Nordrum but,it was to high.We headed to Snoqualmie lk and the trail has windfall and is very muddy in places.It also has really good streams running through with very slick mossy rocks.The trail has brushy area's out side the timber.HIKE with LOTS of CARE going over the boardwalks.There rotting out.I snapped one in half and Im only 124 pounds and then one flipped up on me.I got to the lake in one piece and it's 40

The alpine lakes are starting to open up – well sort of. To get to the TH follow the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River road (FS56) for 15 or so miles. The road is in adequate shape – I have seen it much, much worse. A fork in the road is encountered, go straight ahead on the Taylor River road (I think) to road end at a bridge. Actually the road was not gated at the bridge but at least one vehicle had problems by trying to go farther. This trip starts out as a road walk. In about .5 mi there is a fork in the road, take the right fork along the river. We had to wake up a hungover camper sleeping in the middle of the trail. The sound of the river is wonderful. The slope of the road is such that you can really move out for the first 5 miles with some mandatory stops at the rushing creeks and waterfalls. The unbridged creek crossings were easily navigated with dry feet and the bridge crossings have great waterfalls to enjoy. We also noticed a small rock cairn marking a side trail. More on that later. At 5 miles there are trail markers – right to Nordrum Lake and left to Snoqualmie Lake. Our goal was to get as far as Bear or Deer Lake but that was not to be. The trail winds up through forest and has not been maintained for a while. There are 3 or so blowdowns on the trail that require minor detours or climbing or crawling. At one blowdown the trail is obscured and Devil’s club is doing a good job of covering the trail. Farther up, there are some rock cairns to mark the trail through creeks and rocky areas where there are many bad options to follow and only one good one. We were within 50 vertical feet of Snoqualmie Lake when we hit deep and fairly rotten snow. Two people continued on to Snoqualmie Lake and 3 of us enjoyed lunch with a gorgeous view of the waterfall and creek rushing from the lake outlet. On the way back we started to meet the throngs of people also checking out the trail and waterfalls. As we passed the rock cairn on the road walk part of the trail, the same two “energizer bunnies” that went on to Snoqualmie Lake decided to dash up the side trail to Lipsy Lake. The pictures we saw later confirmed that this short side trip was well worth the extra 3 to 4 minutes it took them to get to the lake and the waterfall which was cascading down the rock slabs from above.

Eric Owens report (see April 3, 2004) overstated the snow, but understated the blowdowns! I made it to the lake with no difficulty. Okay, I just HAPPENED to have snowshoes for the last 1/3 mile... At present melt rates, and moderate weather, the trail should be mostly clear by mid-May. Clear of snow, that is. There are four large blowdown trees to be aware of. The first three are almost evenly spaced at 200, 400 and 600 yards inside the Wilderness boundary. The first and third are new, both in the 3-foot class, both lying in the trail with a tangle of limbs, and a real mess. The second is the 5-footer that dropped across the trail in 1992, now with a rather well established volunteer path around it. The fourth occupies as much of the trail as possible at the second major switchback at about the halfway point. Ordinarily the trail is passable from the Taylor River in a little over an hour as the elevation gains are quite well graded. With these blowdowns, allow an extra 20 minutes. On the Taylor River trail, the 6-foot culvert at Otter Creek is clogged badly and there are large volumes of water crossing the trail at this point. Expect problems here; come equipped. Water flows are moderate otherwise, and conditions in general are more dry than normal. If you want to photograph the falls at the Snoqualmie Lake outlet, be sure get there by 11:30 AM to catch the full sunlight.

THERE IS MASSIVE BLOWDOWN ON THIS TRAIL. You dont see the massive part until you pass the concrete bridge and get to the Spur along the trail. When you get to the spur go Left. There is a sign there. The trail climbs steeply. This is when you will see the massive blow down. You will however be rewarded along this section with an awesome view of a waterfall. Many walking bridges are in very bad shape and are in need of major repair. This last Saturday was a perfect day to hike in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. This hike was a joint effort between Cascade Studios and Summit Studios Northwest. It is important to know that anyone reading this trail report be prepared should you choose to hike all the way to Snowqualmie Lake. This is a very difficult hike this time of year. Bring gaiters, plenty of water, headlamp in case you dont get back to your car until after dark, bring Snow Shoes cause there are MAJOR snow fields on the way. The closer you get to Snowqualmie Lake the bigger they get. We had to post hole way more then we wanted to. Several times we post holed almost up to our waists. Bring Trekking Poles. The Snow during the last 200 yards just before you see the lake is VERY steep. Bring a map and a GPS. You can't see the trail. It's barried in snow. Get to the trailhead very early. Daybreak would be good. It will take you 5 to 6 hours to get to the lake. On the positive side there are THREE major waterfalls on the way. These waterfalls are worthy of photography. We found the trail to Lipsy Lake but didn't have time to hike it. Most people have no idea where this trail is or how to find it. They are marked only by Ribbons in the trees. Both Martin Lake and Lipsy Lake are marked this way and Martin Lake is the first one. This is a 16 mile round trip hike. We got awesome photos of peaks and shot video of hikers in snow with peaks in the backdrop as well as hikers with huge waterfalls in the background. These will be used for the Preview video for X2. All video shot exclusively on location by Cascade Studios and Summit Studios during 2003 and 2004 will be available on DVD soon. No date is set as of yet. If you dont have take a Greentrails Map or GPS or a good sense of direction DONT DO THIS HIKE. AT least not until all the snow melts. The only reference you'll have will be the faint tracks in the snow left over from previous hikers and there is no garuntee that they will be leading you in the right direction. This trail is poorly maintained and remember there is MASSIVE BLOWDOWN along the trail to Snowqualmie Lake. Dont go alone. Always hike with a friend and have fun! Cheers! Eric