Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, Tin Cup Joe Falls — Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021

Had to get out and enjoy the gap in the rain, but was still recovering from my covid booster and didn't want a ton of elevation gain. I've been wanting to do this trail forever and it seemed like a perfect choice. I walked from the Middlefork Trailhead all the way to Dingford Creek and went up to Tin Cup Joe Falls, too, since I was all the way out there. 

They did an excellent job fixing up the Middlefork Trail.. It's really in excellent condition right now, pretty much smooth sailing all the way to Dingford. A bit of mud and a few very minor creek crossings... that one boulder that fell in the trail (but it's not a problem to go around). Mostly pretty flat, other than one little uphill (equivalent to the one uphill on the Pratt River Connector side). A really lovely trail with beautiful forests and occasional good views of the river and Garfield Mountain. The forest is especially nice close to Dingford, really mossy with some large old growth trees. 

The "trail" up to Tin Cup Joe Falls is a lot more spicy, especially when wet... It's mostly fairly clear to follow (there are tags) but lots of downed trees and other obstacles that were incredibly slippery and sketchy to deal with. Probably wouldn't be as bad if it was dry, but this isn't a trail that the average casual hiker is going to want to deal with. I'm honestly amazed that Maddy & co. made it all the way to Derrick Lake this year. The falls were good enough for me, at least for this day!