Scatter Creek — Saturday, Sep. 19, 2015

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

“Well, that was some hike we had today”, said one of my hiking buddies, Jim, when we sat down to dinner after our hike. There were 3 of us and a dog that hoped to find a little sunshine and great views on this hike. Well, that was not to be. Instead, we encountered some unexpected surprises. The trail is very steep for the first two miles, no switchbacks. Just before we crossed Scatter Creek for the last time, we took a break to have some snacks and check the map. As we were getting ready to leave, I realized I was being swarmed by bees, so was the dog – we each ended up with multiple stings. Jim ended up with one on his nose. We marked the trail hoping to avoid that experience on the return. Once we crossed the creek for the last time, what had been a good trail, turned into little more than a game trail. We persisted following cairns and a few good patches of trail to the serious blow down that we scrambled over. The trail continued to go through brush and grass and mostly an ankle-turner of a trail. At some point, we spotted another major bee home in the ground right next to the trail. We finally decided that with the clouds descending, the rain starting and the trail continuing to be so obscure it was time to turn back; not to mention that the bee stings were bothering 2 of the 3 of us. We were probably about 0.5 miles from whatever the end point was supposed to be. On the way back, the other hiker, evened out the total experience by slipping into to the creek getting pretty soaked. The other unpleasant part of the hike as how much gunfire we heard. I have never heard such constant and rapid-fire shooting on a hike before. I am curious if this is actually legal, for people to just shoot off guns in the forest. Ugh! Since the last trip report was sometime in 2014, before the hike, I called the Cle Elum Ranger Station. The person who answered said there had been some maintenance on that trail this year, but that it was “typical backcountry conditions”; no mention of all the route-finding that was needed for this hike. Oh well, now we know. We are glad we went out but I am unlikely to return there. I am sure if it had been a gorgeous day and we could see the peaks around us, my attitude may have been quite different. By the way, the first part of the road after staying right at the Salmon La Sac campground was very bumpy like a washboard, but then became a very nice and well-maintained road.