‘Twas a fine day for a hike in the woods of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley. What a difference the paved road has made for easier, less rattled access to the many excellent trailheads. I have led several hikes in the valley and find the ‘shoulder’ months perfect…mostly.
We arrived with Plan A and Plan B; both the Discovery and NW Forest parking passes, and our new Green Trails Map 174SX to cover all possibilities. Trailhead sign asks for the Discovery Pass—we put out both! Plan A was to head up Bessemer Road and then westward on the CCC; Plan B head eastward if the Blowout creek crossing was too dicey. We went east!
There is a log across Big Blowout Creek at the junction of Bessemer Rd and CCC Road/Trail; it even had a flat top and handy indented cross cuts to reduce slippage .However not all of the Girl Scouts in our group were down for that adventure today. The water level was too high and flowing too fast for wading and all the rocks were submerged, so no rock hopping. Since it’s all or none we went with Plan B. And glad we did. We later talked to a cyclist who came from the Teneriffe parking area and reported ~30 creek crossings with about 8 in the ‘dicey’ or just ‘icey’ range.
With Plan B in place we headed east to the Tall Moss Cliff section of the CCC……it’s only .3 mile on the CCC Road to meet the junction for the CCC Trail on the right side. The first thing we noticed was how bright green the moss was along the trail; and the spooky feeling the forest gave off, perfect for 3 days after Halloween. We hiked (sloshed) along for a bit more than 2 miles on this section, a little up, a little down for an easy hike rating. The 12 creek crossings in those 2 miles ranged from an easy step over, to almost too dicey; but with helping hands all made it. We shared our tips on how to rock hop to avoid unplanned water entries. Those with Gortex lined boots were dry at the end of the day…others not so lucky.
We hunkered down under a few fir trees and enjoyed our lunch before returning. The scouts decided not to bother changing into dry sox since there were those 12 crossings to do. The section under the Tall Moss Cliffs was pretty cool-we liked the dripping cascadelettes coming off the moss which clings to its face. On our way in we had a peekaboo view of the lower half of Russian Butte and the Pratt River valley; on our return it was enshrouded in fog. Mushrooms however were prolific both ways, and amazingly grew bigger in the time we were out there….rain does that!! So many mushrooms so little patience they have for me to take photos….
Finding a geocache and then letting those that wanted to cross the log beam do so rounded out a great hike….albeit a tad damp. Or was it our traditional ice cream stop that topped it off?!
PS WTA directions are right on; if you forget to set your trip meter you get a second chance as the Trailhead is 2.0 miles past the concrete bridge over the MF Snoq. River...No 'facilities' at the trailhead. Very, very limited parking.
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