Paris Creek, Jolly Mountain — Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

Forest Road 4330 leading to this trail is in really rough shape. There are tons of potholes, making for an extremely bumpy ride. We had originally been headed for Cathedral Rock, but an additional 11 miles driving along this "road" didn't seem worth it. Instead we stopped at the trailhead for Paris Creek and decided to give it a go. This trail was in pretty rough shape, it was frequently overgrown and most of the signage along the way was broken. It has a pretty steady climb up and switchbacks regularly. The trail wasn't often dusty and only occasionally rocky. The river crossings, that can be difficult earlier in the year definitely weren't a problem for us, seeing as they were all dried up. The trail leads to a forest road, that you travel on for a short time before turning off and back onto the trail. It's poorly signed and pretty overgrown so watch carefully. We reached the turnaround point after about 3 miles, which was a depressing trail junction. With no real climax to the hike, as yet, we decided to continue on along the Jolly Mountain spur trail in the hopes of seeing something spectacular! After about 1/2 a mile the trail is blocked by several blowdowns, we continued over and onwards and were rewarded with a beautiful meadow and pretty good views of the surrounding mountain ranges after only a half mile more. We decided to turn around here and go back the way we had come. There were tons of ripe berries along the trail that were a definite bonus! Overall this trail, is kind of a dud. I would recommend using it as a section of a longer multi-day hike and seeing some of the views possible from the surrounding peaks. Had we had more time we would've liked to explore a little more. For a full description of our day hike and more photos visit our blog http://bobbyandmaura.com/hikes/paris-creek