I started from the southern trailhead. Today's weather consisted of rain, sleet, snow and sun. About 2 miles in there is an unmarked Y junction. Stay to the right here. There is a post but no sign. On the way back I noticed someone has written "Falls->" to point you in the right direction but I missed that on my way in. Falls are about 4 miles from the trailhead. I attempted to hike up the short, steep path to the base of the falls to get a picture but got about 3/4 ways and didn't feel comfortable continuing. I didn't want my weekend to end with a call to SAR. Being a solo hiker today figured the best bet was to turn around and live to hike another day. There were three people making their way up after me but I don't know if they made it all the way. Back down to the main trail, I crossed the bridge and continued just a short ways north and was able to get a decent pix of the falls. Turned around and headed back. Saw one chipmunk today but that was it for wildlife. Several spots with deer/elk scat but no creatures were out today.

I did the short version of the hike with my dog. Beautiful spring hike with very few people on the trail.  There is a lot of mud and lack of drainage on the trail as well as a good amount of debris on the bridges.  There are also quite a few railroad/iron spikes sticking out of the bridges which pose a bit of a danger.  Could definitely use some light WTA assistance to clean up the trail and make it more accessible. 

My hiking group headed to Skookum Flats for a walk through hike heading North to South today.  We pulled in at 10:10 dropped our hikers and then drove to Buck Creek and left 3 of our cars with a driving shuttle.  After driving one car back we were geared up and on the trail by 10:40. The vault toilet at the TH was worst for the wear - filthy, with no TP and trash all over the floor.  It was 41 degrees with partially sunny skies and rain forecast by 1:00PM.  The entire trail is super saturated with only a few really muddy areas.  All the recent blow downs have been cleared.  Skookum Falls were flowing as well as Snoquera Falls across the Valley.  Both Kwaterfall flows were not a heavy as flows seen in March.  A few spring wildflowers are starting to bloom, mostly trillium.  Lots of fresh elk scat was spotted along the trail but no animals. That was it for wildlife sightings today.  Trail traffic was super light we only saw jigger with one happy dog. We stopped for a lunch/ rest break and birthday celebration about a half mile south of Skookum Falls on the high bank over looking the White River at 12:20.  Much to our delight no rain ever materialized.  Buck Creek parking area has car sized mud puddles. We pulled out at 2:45 and had another fantastic day out in nature with friends.

This is the 4.2 mile hike off of FR73. Stay left until the bridge. Parking lot for 8 cars on your right. A few potholes getting there, but manageable. There is a bathroom available at trailhead but not the best, so bring TP and sanitizer just in case. Skookum Flats trail is clear of all but one blowdown and the one that remains is easy to navigate around. A little bit of snow remains but nothing impassable. This is a beautiful walk through the woods. Moss and towering old growth, a beautiful view of the river and a diverse forest landscape make this the perfect leg stretch. Well behaved dogs welcome and this is not a busy trail at all. Gorgeous light and solitude. 

Decided to take advantage of the work put in by jimclass and his certified sawyer to clear this trail of blowdowns and get in some forest therapy.  Thanks again for all the work you guys put in on this trail! It looks great! 

I went about 3 miles south from the northern TH and there was only one tree across the main trail, about 18 inches in diameter, just under 2 miles south from the northern TH.  Photo below.  It's a bit too high for an easy step over, but the straddle and over maneuver worked well for me.

I marked this as snow free, which is not technically correct.  There are a few small patches of snow left on the trail near the northern TH, but these are very small (height, width and length), firmly packed, and would really only be an issue if you weren't paying attention and slipped on them.  No traction devices are needed.

Got to the northern TH around 9AM and was the first car in the lot.  Roads were all snow free along the driving surface (some snow on the sides of FR 73). There were also patches of snow in the parking lot, but nothing that would prevent any care from parking.  FR 73 is in decent condition. Some potholes, but generally not too bad.  Just watch immediately before and after the bridge (as usual) - a couple quite large potholes on both sides.

The privy is not being maintained as best as I can tell from the signage, but wasn't in too bad shape if that's the case.  No TP, so bring your own supplies. And please pack everything out. As of today there wasn't too much garbage left in the building (there's no garbage can) - would be great if that stayed the case.

The trail itself was exactly what I was needing today.  Overall in very good condition.  In addition to the aforementioned patches of snow there were a few muddy spots, but nothing too extreme.  At the worst spot, there were a couple logs that could be used to avoid the mud while staying on trail/ hard surfaces.

In addition to the falls, there are a couple nice viewpoints down to the White River, though watch your step - some of those banks are getting seriously undercut.

There's an unnamed seasonal falls about 0.2 miles before the sign for the Skookum Falls spur trail, while only a small amount of water is coming down at the moment it was still a nice treat.

I took the spur trail up to the base of Skookum Falls; had forgotten how steep that was.  Slow and steady is the name of the game.  Unless you're a trail runner that's more goat the human and can effortlessly bound your way down ignoring the effects of gravity, as I saw today.  Me, I would break an ankle if I tried that. There was another large downed tree that you needed to go under on the way up the spur trail, though that one has been there for a while.

Went a little farther down the trail as I wasn't quite done with the forest, then made my way back north.  I finally remembered to put my pruning shears in my pack again, so on the way out I trimmed back a bit of the worst 'catch in you your face if you're not paying attention' trail encroachers.

Only saw three other people on the trail (including the aforementioned mountain goat trail runner).  There was a gray/ black plastic water bottle in some brush along the trail near the falls; as I wasn't sure which trailhead the owner might have used, I just put it in a more easily seen location next to the trail. 

Best wishes for the upcoming weekend!