I've been interested in exploring this trail for some time. I hiked Boulder River in the morning with a friend, and since we had a few hours of daylight left I convinced him to explore the first part of this trail, with the goal of getting some recon data about the road and and the washout area one must cross to reach the old trail head.

The road is rough, you could probably make it in a sedan with decent clearance but I would advise a higher clearance vehicle, there are a few sloped sections that are spicy, but there are no major potholes. The road is very narrow and vehicles cannot pass each other. When we drove in, one person was leaving and he chose to reverse all the way to the trailhead area.

The "trail head" is simply a wider segment of the road with barriers marking the north end of the large landslide area that wiped out the road. You start the road walk here and shortly pass through a massive slide area that has a defined path through recovering tree growth. Here you find a trail register box but no trail sign. This slide area is nearly 1000 feet long, if not longer, but there is an established trail and no obstacles. After crossing it you are back on the old road, and there are three more washout culverts that previously were under the road but are now effectively creek crossings, in on the steel corrugated pipe is visible. The third and final crossing is the most dangerous, it resembles a creek one would find on cross and probably would require close attention during periods of high melting. Pass this third washout, about 2.7 miles in, is the old trailhead. I attempted to find the Wilderness sign at the boundary just beyond the sign, but it was missing or even further in than I travelled. As it was getting dark we returned to our vehicle.

There were views of the White Horse and Bullen ridges, and the North side of three fingers tantalized with teaser views, but they are obscured for the most part by trees, it would be even harder to see them once the hardwoods have their leaves again. One likely has to travel further down the trail towards the pass for a good vantage of the Three Fingers east face. I plan to return on a clear day that would make the effort worthwhile.

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I have been trying to finish off the Everett Mountaineers Peaks pin list. Jumbo mountain looks so easy on paper that I attempted it during the winter the first time, twice. Neither of those shots went well...so I came back to take it on in the summertime.

On this attempt, I was armed with some GPS markers I had made on my previous tries. This made finding my way to the first Gulley exit far easier.

From the first gulley, there is a lot of bushwhacking and route-finding to do. The rock is very loose. Competition with slide alder is continuous and there really is no easy path to take. 

If you can make it to the final gulley and you do it in the summer Like I did, there will be a waterfall to scramble around. The last section to the summit is an easy scramble, but, there is a huge amount of exposure to deal with.

If you are not looking for a grand adventure of pushing brush aside and finding your own trail for hours on end, climb basically anything else for the day. This peak is small but it is rough.

I hiked this trail with two friends on Sunday 7/12. We were the only ones on the trail the entire time. A few important notes:

• The first two miles of the trail isn't actually the trail--it's an overgrown road with brush about 5-6 feet tall. So to complete the full hike, it's closer to 12 miles roundtrip. You'll see a "Squire Creek" trailhead sign two miles in.
• When we exited the trailhead and returned to our car, there was a vehicle with three folks actively high on meth/heroin that had checked out our car. There was also a suspicious trailer parked a hundred yards from the trailhead. I'd recommend being cautious and hiking in a group for this trail. Ensure your car is locked and valuables are hidden.
• There are a number of stream/creek crossings. Some are small enough to hop over. Others take some negotiation and scaling boulders. Be ready to get your feet wet--bring waterproof shoes and a change of wool socks

The road up from Darrington is short but overgrown, with leaves and branches clinging to the car. Apart from being overgrown it is in good condition, with only one patch of potholes - making this one road where a Prius might actually fare better than an F-350. 

Arrived at the four spot trailhead on a gray Sunday morning to find one other car already parked there. 

The trail for the first three miles has a steady uphill grade, with two or three tricky stream crossings and a couple nice spots where the mountains pop into view. It is also very overgrown - hiking poles or a machete recommended. Fortunately there were no downed trees so it is actually a pretty quick hike. 

Did not go up the switchbacks, all in all logged 5.4 miles, 680 feet of accent. Squire creek temp was 43.7˚F.