Taylor River - Otter Falls, Snoqualmie Lake — Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

Took the dog to Big Creek Falls and Otter Falls for Labor Day weekend, and day-hiked to Snoqualmie Lake on Sunday. The road to the Snoqualmie Lake Trailhead is definitely bumpy, with lots of deep potholes. My truck handled it fine, (I even cruised along at about 20mph on the way home) but would be difficult for a car with low suspension. The trail to Big Creek Falls was clear of blowdowns and other debris. and it was a breeze. The turnoff to Otter Falls is now marked with a GIGANTIC arrow made of rocks, and a rock cairn on the other side of the trail from it. There is no real trail to Otter Falls, just kind of ambling up the small slope to Lipsy Lake. Despite 3 or 4 good days of rain, Otter Falls was pretty dry, with just a few trickles running down the face. There is a campsite at the top of the trail before descending to the lake, but it is right on the path. There are at least two more campsites -- one away from the path on the slope, and another right down on the beach by the lake - also right in the path of visitors to the falls. The lake was a little dirty from debris and lack of runoff. There were quite a few mosquitoes out at noon. We had originally planned on camping at Otter Falls, but instead found a wide campsite close to fast-moving stream down-slope just before getting to Big Creek Falls. It is marked by a cairn atop a railroad tie bench. It has a large fire ring and plenty of clearance to hang food bags, and... ahem... do your business... well away from the campsite and the water source. The only drawbacks were that it was just as buggy as Otter Falls, there were no views of the night sky, and all the wood was soaked from rain and took a bit to dry out. Sunday we took the pup to Snoqualmie Lake, and the trail was excellent. There were quite a few runoffs and rocky areas, but she was able to drink and soak her paws along the way. The lake was perfect. Just perfect. Except the horseflies. Which were numerous. After lunch, we descended back to camp and dinner, then packed up Monday morning and made the 5 miles back to the trailhead in 2 hours.