Having hit the Middle Fork Trail a couple weeks ago (and seeing multiple trip reports, declining to produce a report of our own), we decided this week to check out the Pratt Connector and the Pratt River Trail. The Connector Trail is a beauty. Well-constructed, in good shape, only just a little overgrown here and there, and only just a little technical here and there. We marked about 3.5 miles from the car to the campsites along the river and about 3.75 miles to the Pratt River trail. Very pleasant, and only a few people out. Nice views, shaded, not too hot. Perfect conditions, really. Salmonberries everywhere; some bushes at their peak, and some just coming up in the next week I'd reckon. Lowland and highland huckleberries were exploding and as succulent as you could dream - the recent rains have really helped.
We hit the Pratt River trail in another quarter mile or so. We could just see the faint remnants of the trail right proceeding down to the ford. We turned left up the trail, knowing that we wouldn't be going much further as we were both nursing some minor injuries. We probably shouldn't have pushed it.
The Pratt River Trail is not in good shape. There were obvious signs that it had received some maintenance, probably last year. A few trees hogged out here and there, some drainages improved. But it hadn't been brushed out in ages, and the overgrowing undergrowth encountered in long stretches in that first mile made it impossible to see the tread surface, which consisted of clay-y mud, large loose rocks, roots, and limbs. Going was slow, scratchy, and ankle-twisting. I had considered bringing a machete, but just plain forgot to pack it in the morning. I was kicking myself.
In that first mile, one is never even within audible range of the Pratt River; my gps marked something like another 3 miles to a likely river access. Not much in the way of views there either, in contrast to the Connector which has some nice peekaboos of the surrounding terrain. There are some very big trees, some very decent wooded sections, and the trail is mostly placed to follow an old logging road. So generally quite a pleasant grade. And the best part? It was just the two of us, the birds, and the chipmunks. Oh, and a nice fat garter snake. That kind of solitude is perhaps worth a bit of blood sacrifice these days.
I was scouting this trail as a potential backpacking route for a trip later this year with some college buddies, but I think I'll have to give it a pass. It is not friendly to broken-down middle-aged bodies. But if you are young and hale and don't mind a bit of a bushwhack, you could do worse. And you will have the whole valley to yourself!
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