Hiked Wed 9/8/2021 just to Lake Malachite. That was more than enough for our aging knees: almost 4 hours up and 3 hours down. This trail is a lot of work: steep, rocky, and rooty, especially the last 1/10 mile up to Malachite. But it's worth it! The Foss River valley is quite dramatic, and Malachite is a real gem. And there are some monster trees. See the attached photo.
The first mile of the gravel access road has been freshly re-graded. (We encountered the grader on his way out!) But the rest is just as pot-holey and slow as ever. Allow 15 minutes over Google's time estimate. My Passat managed it, but higher clearance would help a lot.
Some of the vine maples have started to turn, making for some small patches of bright red. There are still a few tasty huckleberries to be found. There were no bugs this late in the season.
There were maybe a dozen cars in the parking lot, but they were apparently mostly back-packers. We only encountered a handful of people all day, and had Lake Malachite all to ourselves for lunch.
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