Snuck this one in just before the rains came on Sunday. As others have said the road leading up to the hike is pretty rough shape, although I will point out that long stretches of it are perfectly fine gravel road, its just patches of potholes the size of the Puget Sound that make things difficult for short streches. Any car should be able to do it with some careful maneuvering. Also be careful on the first 10 miles of paved road; higher speeds might be tempting but there is some serious road damage, easily avoidable at if you see it in time, but could be bad if hit when going a bit too fast.
Not too many people out. I only saw 1 group on any of the trail-heads (at buck creek) for the whole 20 miles of NF road. Ended up seeing one other group on the hike who must have come in after me and several others on my drive back
Started seeing signs of bear on the trail sometime after the switchbacks and ended up running into the bear itself at about mile 2, just sitting on the trail 20 feet or so in front of my dog. Didn't seem scared of my dog at all (who was wearing a cowbell no less) but when I got there he started moving away pretty quickly. Didn't see him again the rest trip but from his tracks it looked like he stayed on the trail ahead of me for a mile or so before he must have turned off.
Trail has been meticously maintained for about the first 2-2.5 miles, after which there are multiple blowdowns that make things difficult but not impossible. Some bigger trees and at least one boardwalk taken out it'll probably need a good bit of work. All the creek crossing were doable but the third major creek was a little sketchy, definitely had to get the boots wet a couple of times.
Ended up reaching the campsite at mile 6 (the end) and deciding to turn back to the first one with a nicer fire pit and not so close to river. I know some people love the sound of a loud river for sleeping but being 10-15 feet from two very loud spring rivers was a little to much for me.
All in all a great hike for some old growth, river viewing and a couple of nice views at the end.
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