Feel like I'm missing something with this hike. Road noise was pretty loud the first few hundred feet and I don't imagine it gets much better since the trail follows SR 410 the whole way. We ended up bailing -- it's a pretty forest, but there's plenty of other such trails that aren't right next to a busy highway.

Wasn't sure what to expect after the windstorm. Turns in out this trail was unscathed. Lovely walk to the falls and a little beyond. Water is flowing nicely and there is a good viewpoint before the trail up to sit and enjoy it. Perfect little day hike.

Eight of us enjoyed a surprisingly dry day as we followed the White River on the Skookum Flats Trail. This was a Welcome to Hiking hike run by the Tacoma Hiking and Backpacking Committee and we had several new hikers and folks new to The Mountaineers. Our Welcome to Hiking hikes are geared towards newer hikers with a slower pace and low elevation. The Skookum Flats Trail is perfect and full of lovely forest moments.

All of our hikers enjoyed the lush landscape, large Douglas-fir and Western Red Cedar trees as well as a plethora of moss and mushroom varieties. 

The trail is in great shape and we enjoyed traveling across some improved bridges done by the Washington Trails Association this past year.

We ventured to the side trail leading up to Skookum Falls. A conversation was had about the level of difficulty and cautions. Some folks held back while others proceeded. The trail up to the falls is steep and proper footing is a must. Once at the falls everyone enjoyed the beauty of water flowing through the mosses and fall colors still showing their beauty. The waterfall is low flowing for now but still magical. Remember when a hiker goes up, they must come down unless it is a loop. It took about the same amount of time to  come down as it did to go up due to the steepness, loose rock and soil on the trail.

Returning back down safely to the rest of our group, we enjoyed a snack break before venturing back to our vehicles. The hike back was fun with everyone getting to know each other more and sharing about the many offerings one can participate in with The Mountaineers.

We made it back to our vehicles, thanked everyone for attending with hopes of sharing more trail time in the future.

This trail report is primarily to report some issues to WTA crews for future work party planning, but if you haven't hiked Skookum, you definitely should. 

It's a beautiful hike anytime of year, but especially good in late fall to early spring when the higher elevations are covered in snow. You get many views of the White River and ridges on the east side of the river, plus there are plenty of large old growth Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars along the trail. In spite of the rest of my report which includes specifics on some wet spots, I did this hike on a rainy day at the end of a rainy week and the trail was not excessively muddy. I did not hike the casual trail up to the falls viewpoint as that trail is not in great shape and has many blown down trees to contend with, but just north of the falls trail you get a pretty decent view of the falls from the main trail. 

For WTA/Forest Service: I started the hike at the north trailhead (off FS7300). The first .5 miles of the trail would benefit from additional drains and tread work as I encountered some puddling on this part of the trail. The new bridge and puncheon+turnpike were doing their jobs, no wet feet around these structures. To my surprise the older turnpike south of the new structures was holding up OK and this section of the trail was pretty dry. 

As mentioned, the casual trail to the falls viewpoint was covered in blow downs. Even if that had not been the case, I'm not sure I would have hiked it as the boot path was very slick. Hopefully this trail can be repaired/re-routed at some point. There are also some medium and larger blowdowns on the main trail near the intersection of the falls trail. All are passable, but it would be good to get them cleared. 

Miles 2 - 4 of the trail have some wet spots and could use some tread work, possibly some structures, and one of the bridges has been damaged by a large rock (see picture). 

At mile 4 there is a sketchy part of the trail where it crosses a steep section of loose dirt and rock. While a trail log or small crib wall is probably the best fix, the bench could be extended by digging into the backslope, a fix that would take one person 1-2 hours to implement. The rain picked up and I turned around just past the 4 mile point. 

Four questions for you in this Trip Report.  

1. Near the base of Skookum Falls, while still on the main trail, a wooden walkway about 10 feet long has been smashed by a boulder. Where do you think that boulder fell from? You'll see it. The other boulders nearby have no moss on them! All hypotheses welcome.
2. What are these very adorable, teeny, tiny white mushrooms along the trail? See photo. The are so cute.
3. Is there a future work party planned for the rebar poking up in multiple places? It's about 1.9 miles in from the southern trail head, and along the trail next to the sheer cliff face to the right as you walk north. Rebar pokes up in at least 4 spots. I marked what we saw today with pink marking ribbon as they are quite the trip hazards. 
4. Is there a future work party planned to deal with the trail now being right on the edge? The White River is reclaiming the bank, and the trail goes right up to it. I attached a pic looking south and that person and dog are on the trail. As you can see, it is undercut and will soon become even more dangerous. 

Also:

- Thank you so much for the Sept 27, 2024 WTA work party for creating those new bridges/puncheons that we happily used today. We also noted extra material (cedar logs and wide strips) and we assume that'll be used for another older bridge/puncheon about 50 feet from the pile.