I warned my group of friends that today's hike would be muddy and it was, however, overall the trail was in excellent shape. First off, props to the weather gods for stopping the heavy winds before our 10am hike and holding off the rain until we were back at 2:30. We stared at the trailhead located off Issaquah Hobart road and immediately ran into an unexpected stream of water. Don't let this deter you. After that the Holder Ridge and Knob trail were in very good shape, with some squishy mud spots, but nothing too difficult to work around and no blow-downs.
We extended our hike to the Whiskey Still, The Boot, Mountain Beaver, back up Mt Beaver continuing on the Boot to F Road and then, back on Whiskey still. Most of this portion was similar to going up holder, except for the 2nd half of the Boot, which had several giant puddles (up to 20 feet long) and much more mud. I'd recommend avoiding it if possible(see pics).
Also, one of the few hikers we did encounter told us that the Carey Creek Trail towards the 208th trailhead was un-passable about a mile from the Mt Beaver intersection. It wasn't on our route, but I wanted to share since he was nice enough to let us know.
It was a great day to be out. There were a few hikers/runners bold enough to be out there with us and we saw a beautiful horse saddling up after we finished our trek.
photos courtesy of Lori D.
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