Scatter Creek — Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

A great fall day for a hike- sunny, warm, gorgeous leaf color. Route-finding was easy, aided by the absence of snow and the presence of pink tape ties and cairns through some of the trickier sections of the trail. The trail gets down to business immediately, with a heafty 900 foot gain that barely eases until you reach the County Line Trail junction, at 1500 feet of gain. At about 4450 feet of elevation you cross a branch of Scatter Creek, gain about another 200 feet before crossing the main channel of Scatter Creek. The trail levels off as it meanders through meadows, but while your legs may not be challenged your brain is as these meadows present the most difficult route-finding of the trail. As the 100 Hikes book suggests, just keep the creek to your right. Eventually you reach another arm of the forest and gain elevation quickly once again. Since you've only gained about 200-300 additional feet through the meadows, this is the final push to the pass. Now to the good stuff! We saw an amazing number and variety of mushrooms. We heard an elk call out somewhere nearby. We also saw an owl in flight as well as two bald eagles. Views from the pass were clear. There's no snow on the pass at this time. We were the only hikers on the trail today.