Water is now limited to a few standing pools requiring a water filter. There is one new blowdown that is easily to negotiate. 

Final day of cleanup on this for now.  Trail to where I found it is in good shape after 6 days of work clipping , sawing and raking.  At the very end I saw where it went above what I located, but I had climbed in a couple other spots so had no more in me.  It'll be waiting when I return.

This trail really needs to be saved. If it was 30 miles closer to Seattle it would probably be a premier hike, though not in its current condition. We hiked a good chunk of it today, turned back after four miles at the big talus slope at 3,100 feet with the awesome view of the Three Finger/Whitehorse divide. Beyond that point the trail vanished in the brush, though we didn't spend much time looking for it. No issues with water crossings, all the creeks were low enough to rock-hop across, maybe a little tricky for some in a couple spots. We also lost the trail at three miles when crossing a big dry wash at 2,100 feet. After chugging up steep forest for a few hundred feet we found it again. Later, we followed it down and the alignment was well off what Gaia showed. We added some cairns. When heading in and you reach that bouldery dry wash, descend about 30 yards and look for the steep exit on the far side. Goes up for 20 feet or so to the obvious trail above. Beyond this point the trail worsens considerably to about 1/3 decent, 1/3 bad, 1/3 horrid with several difficult blowdowns, light brush, muck, eroded trail, slippery rocks, etc. If that's the stuff you dream of, by all means, but if you made it that far, at least go for the big view at four miles.

Agree with others who say this one is best for those with strong route-finding skills (and legs). Getting off route could be serious. Again, it's hard to believe such a spectacular valley of giant rock walls, high waterfalls and old-growth forest has fallen by the wayside. Squire Creek, Darrington's Little Yosemite, deserves way better.

From "Inventory of Washington Minerals"  1956 

  Nesta (7)

    Loc: Sec. 34, (32-9E), about 3 mi. S. of Darrington, on Jumbo 
Mtn. Elev: 800 to 3,900 ft. Access: Within 1 mi. of good county
road. Prop: 25 claims. Owner: Ole and Pete Nesta, Darrington.
Wash. (1950). Ore: Copper, gold, silver, molybdenum, lead.
zinc. Ore min: Pyrite, sphalerite, galena. Deposit: 10 veins
from 2 to 10 ft. wide. Quartz veins 1 to 2 ft. thick in altered
diorite. Molybdenum showings are small and scattered and
only on the S. part of the claims. Dev: 12 adits aggregating
1,150 ft. Improv: Good cabin (1950). Assays: From $5 to $100 for hand samples. Av. values are very low. Ref: 14, p. 10. 111,
p. 6. 158.

I've wanted to go here since I saw the trail on an old map.  I swear I saw it but can't find it now.  What I did find may be even more exciting than this,  the 1943 Metsker's Atlas map, that shows a trail going up the spine of the ridge, from the middle of section 27 to the middle of section 35.  Line it up with the USGS map and you'll see.  I had always thought there would be a trail here, but had never seen it on a map until today.  I half-ass looked for any sign of trail there when I was here last Sunday, now that I know one used to exist, I will try harder.  I can see on the USGS map where to start the climb, below the y in boundary, below the 27, less than 200' vert. to the ridge crest from the road.  When I looked Sunday, I was on the switchback, which I now see is a ways away.

  Now back to the story -  When I read on Wilhiteweb that "One person could do an amazing job saving this climbers trail in just a day or two of work", I knew I was the right man for the job.

On Darrington's S side, take Darrington St. (becomes Squire Creek Rd.) to it's end, passable for any vehicle.  Walk the road 1.2 miles to creek w/ large culvert, walk back 250 feet and enter Old Growth.  I added to the pile of rocks at the start.

I had to climb XC for 400-500' vert before encountering old trail.  There were a handful of nubs from old flagging to assure me I was going the right way.  Key is to keep the creek on R within earshot without being too close on the steeper slope.  

I worked on the trail once found, mostly throwing off branches and sticks, probably hasn't been done since Ole did it, trail dates back to the late 1800's.  Being my first time through, there will be some fine tuning, but there is a nice trail most of the way as far as I went.

Accidentally only brought 16 oz. of water instead of 1.5 liters, had run out so was going to head down.  But I was able to get to the creek on the R so I didn't need to, continued up.  There is a tiny creek on the L, it was under the rocks where I got to it so no go.  I could see marked trail above where I finally turned around - makes coming back easier if you have something positive to look forward to.

Ran out of time to look for bottom part, will make that my mission for next trip.  Not sure where it ends but I think people would use it if it connected with Squire Creek Trail without the XC part.  Low elevation, close in, good road, massive Old Growth trees - now if there are just some views.

Already a fruitful year of bringing back trails for me, but I can't do it all by myself.   Why write the 3053rd Report for Mailbox (for example), when you could find a lost trail on an old map, fix it up, and write the first.

Before you post, ask yourself, does my Report add anything valuable about the trail, or is it all about you?  Look at past Reports to see what's been said.  Not every hiking trip requires you write a Report.  If you do some repairs, the answer will always be "yes".  If so, you can add some personal anecdotes to spice it up.

Without suffering through them all - and without singling anyone out - by my count less than a quarter of those from today actually added anything useful.  And that doesn't include removing the trails that need no more Reports written about, probably ever.  Remember, it should be about the trail and not the author.

This trail is one, maybe two more years of neglect away from being a properly abandoned trail.

I trail ran this twice in the spring, and it was a much more pleasant experience. Now that the foliage has come to life and that even more trail is in disarray higher up, however, I find that it is not possible to continuously run this. Indeed, in the subalpine traverse section to the pass, the trail is extremely hard to follow (and I follow animal trails and obscure, abandoned trails all the time).

I will say that I did hike this right after two days of heavy rain, so all the plants sagged towards the trail more than is normal. Regardless, this trail is going to be too much for many people, who have difficulty trail finding, don't want to be soaked to the bone by brush-beating in the morning, and generally find that the juice may not be worth the squeeze