I hiked the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Road form the end of the plowed section at Pratt River Bar Trail, past the Middle Fork Trailhead/Campground, and a up towards Dingford Creek along FS Road 5620. (Including Mailbox Peak with note about parking below.) I turned around a little over 7 miles in from where the plowed section of the Middle Fork Road ends. It was a beautiful day to be out -- I didn't see another soul the whole day!
Road: the road is plowed up to the Pratt River Bar Trail (47.53119, -121.58696). After that it looks like only snowcat and maybe snowmobiles have been through, and not many hikers. The plowed section of the Middle Fork road is in good shape for any vehicle, almost always wide enough for two cars to pass. You have to navigate around some tree-fall, but they've been cut wide enough to get through easily. The main challenge is that there's only minimal parking. Fine for today (a Friday), but it may be difficult this weekend if you plan to go. Mailbox Peak parking is plowed out for the angle-in parking only -- the small section on the north side of the road -- and the larger lot along the south side is unplowed. The gate to the upper lot is closed. The only other parking I saw were a few spots at Bessemer Road and maybe 7-8 spots at the Pratt River Bar Trail (end of plowed section). The burned out truck from a previous trip report on Champion Beach was there in the morning, but had been towed by the time I drove out, glad to see that gone. But there was still a jeep that had slid off the road, probably waiting for snow melt and a tow truck. Even when the snow melts the area with the wash is in bad shape (picture), fine for hiking, but not sure about cars.
Trail: the road was my trail today. Snow the whole way, and a snow-cat had been through and cleared downed trees, so it was fairly easy going. About 1-2 feet of snow at the beginning, increasing to 2-3 feet at the Middle Fork Trailhead/Campground and then mixed snow with some bare patches after that along the FS road. The restrooms were open at Camp Brown and also at the picnic area just past the Middle Fork Campground (past the bridge). The only thing to be aware of is at the slide area (picture -- just past the Upper CCC road trailhead) there's significant water across the road, 3-4 inches, so be prepared. I got through fine with waterproof boots and a little creativity.
Snow: The road was consistently snow covered up to the Middle Fork Campground. Was fine with just boots, I didn't break through so no snowshoes needed, and it was crusty but not icy enough for spikes. It's torn up enough that skis wouldn't be much fun at the moment. After the turnoff to FS Road 5620 there were more open, melted out spots and varied stages of melt and water flow. I expect as the weather stays warmer the rest of the way will also be more mixed. but today snow was consistent to the Middle Fork Campground and 90% snow covered after that.
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