Middle Fork Snoqualmie River — Friday, Jun. 20, 2008

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

Middle Fork Snoqualmie River 6/21/08 We hiked the lower section from the Gateway bridge to the Dingford Creek bridge. The route was in excellent condition with one tricky creek ford, a tiny bit of mud and no other obstacles. All fallen timber has been cleared. What did we see and hear and smell ? A raging river, majestic old cedar giants gnarled and huge, a fine 3 star waterfall and several class 4 rapids on the river, a green tunnel of forest with ferns and mosses and little plants every- where on the forest floor, scattered groups of shade loving wildflowers (mostly Queens Cup and Canadian Dogwood) and river views of cliffs and peaks. There are 3 excellent foot bridges which make this trail possible: the gateway bridge at the start (a laminated beam arch suspension type), the Criple Creek bridge below the waterfall, and the Dingford Creek bridge at the upper trailhead. The first and the last cross the Middle Fork Snoqualmie and have survived all floods since being built in the early 1990’s. It’s not in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness yet but is a very wilderness like trail. Solitude was very good too. Statistics: 11 miles plus, 500 ft. gain, 57 miles from my north Seattle home. Robert Michelson