I love this trail....mostly.
Back in Summer 2020, I aimed to navigate this (basically abandoned) trail. I say "abandoned" because the access road was closed for years and then the signs for it were removed down in Tieton Meadows as well as up at the Bear Creek Trail intersection at the top. Because of this, maintenance/upkeep of this trail has been ceased.
I have a video of the route-finding I learned/used to navigate the 5-miles & 3000' in elevation to get to the top here from my 1st attempt in 2020: https://youtu.be/RkLSB05lv9k.
It's a shame this trail has been forgotten, because you can tell decades of work went into making/maintaining this trail: cutting the trail surface into the slope, addressing fallen trees blocking the trail, marking blazes on trees for navigation. Because of all the work that went into this trail years ago, one can certainly make their way up/down this trail.
Trail is fairly easy to find after leaving the trailhead (although the little bridge that goes over Scatter Creek at the trailhead was blocked by a tree...more later!). After this fallen tree---which is nothing compared to the fallen trees on the climb up! You hike about 1/4-mile via the trail to the N.Fork of the Tieton River. There is a tree(s) one can use to cross the river here & no wet feet at all. After that, it's just basic route finding in this valley floor (yes, you do start in the opposite direction of where you want to go, but you quickly turn upvalley).
It looks like someone or maybe animals have already been using the trail this season (oh, I did spot a fairly clear bear print in the mud down in the valley).
The hike up was fairly OK, but I started late (3pm), and it was pretty hot. Although there were minimal mosquitoes at the start, they ended up getting worse the higher and higher I went. I'm definitely out of trail-shape, because at about the 3-mile mark, I was totally dragging! (I had a 30lb backpack.) And the mosquito cloud around me kept me on edge and prevented me from stopping to rest to my detriment. I'm not kidding. These guys were ravenous!! I felt bad for my dog, but it looked like her fur was protecting her (but she easily would have 5-25 mosquitoes on her face. I tried running from my mosquito cloud, but I think this was my mistake---it tired me out and kept me off my game. :(
By the time I (FINALLY) got to around 6000', I definitely was dying! I scrapped my dreams of climbing up to a high ridge just below Bear Creek Mountain summit for my usual camp with amazing sunset views of Rainier and basically, picked a spot right where #1128 intersects with the Bear Creek Trail/Section 3 Lake trail up at the top---there is no sign here for #1128!
I quickly set up my tent, and then grabbed my filter bag to get water for the night. I was surprised to run into a couple up there (it was probably around 8pm)--they must have been coming down from the summit....I bet they were wondering why some weirdo and his dog were walking around and with him in only thermals and a raincoat (I changed into these because I was freezing in my sweaty shorts and t-shirt.).
Mosquitoes were still menacing up on top where I camped, but I'd say they were worse around the 4500-5500' section of the hike up. (I basically used up half of my bug repellant!)
Although I did not get to make it to my preferred spot, it was still a great workout, and it's always kind of fun figuring out the puzzle of this mysterious (now) trail.
The next morning....after a rough sleep as I heard elk prancing around me...I got up, ate a quick breakfast and made my way down with the doggie. We double-timed it.
- Going Up: 6.5miles took 4.5hrs (this includes some back and forth at the trailhead...don't ask!)
- Going Down: A very quick 5.2miles in 2hrs
Oh, and the tree blocking the Scatter Creek bridge was totally cleared!
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