French Cabin Creek — Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

Hello hiking friends, long-time-no-trip reports, although I've been keeping up on yours. French Cabin Creek is an area I've never been to before so I thought I'd write a little report on it and offer some "proof of life" for myself and the dogs. The trail and directions are well described here in the hiking guide on wta. I will just elaborate on the experience. The major drag about this trail is that it's a 2+ hour drive from my house (Seattle) to the trail head. That's pretty much what has kept me away from here in the past, and probably will in the future. That aside, it's a pretty hike, with what looks like a lot of flowers earlier in the year, and a TON of berries right now. The 7 mile RT trip described on the site can be extended by turning left at the unsigned junction at 3.5 miles, to your left. It is an obvious trail and you won't miss it. This goes up a mile or so, and 1500' or so, almost to the top of the West Peak of French Cabin Mnt. but not quite. It looks like you could cut off the trail a bit before it reaches the ridge line and scramble up to the very top without much problem, although I decided to skip it in hopes of making back to the freeway before the road closed for rock blasting. I wasn't planning on taking this side trip up to West Peak, but it was a worthwhile excursion. There are a number of other trails, marked and unmarked departing the French Cabin Trail which would be interesting to follow, if I ever want to drive this far again. Regarding the .5 approach to the trail head, it is not currently narrow, but it is rough. I made it in a Prius and scraping bottom is not inevitable, but it takes some finesse. Finally, I was away this summer and missed the anniversary of the passing of John Wright, aka Tomas, http://www.wta.org/author/jwright who died in a fall on Green Mountain near North Bend on July 6, 2012. I only knew him from the wta site, but he was a friend and I think of him often. I hope his family is at peace. .