Went up the Bessemer Road and then westbound on the CCC trail. The CCC Trail had many Creek crossings and after about a half a mile we came across one (see photo) that required waterproof footwear (and maybe a pole) so we turned around. Nice dog walk.

Warning: Cougar encounter
The trail started on a road with many mountain bikers but no other hikers. Once we turned off at the trailhead and crossed a bridge we found ourselves in an incredibly quiet forest area in which the trail was fairly overgrown. Luckily the overgrown plants were not thorny or dangerous. There were a few creek crossing but nothing that was challenging in the least. After about an hour of hiking in, we heard a cougar clearly warning us to not get closer. We grabbed a stick, raised our voices and headed back to the car without any further issues.

Big mileage -- 39 miles in two days / one night !
A quick weekend loop via Middle Fork, Pratt River, the I-90 lakes, and CCC trail. 
Holiday weekend, under an hour from Seattle, and still empty trails.

Retraced my steps from a prior trek (that I used via public bus!) -- back when Trailhead Direct served Mailbox Peak in 2018. An ambitious loop taking you past the holiday dayhike crowd through quiet, narrow trails.

The Pratt River trail (along with the Granite Creek trail to Thompson/Mason Lake; plus the Rock Creek trail as a backdoor to Snow Lake), are the only options to connect Middle Fork with the I-90 side -- making them useful for stitching loop itineraries. 

[1]  Middle Fork TH > Pratt River > Pratt Lake
[2] > Rainbow/Island Lake > Mason Lake > Mt Defiance
[3] > Thompson Lake > Granite Creek TH
[4] > Old Sitka Spruce Trail > CCC Trail > Middle Fork TH

[1] Middle Fork TH > Pratt River >  Pratt Lake

Decided on July 5 that holiday crowds weren't going to stop me, packed my bags around noon, and arrived at Middle Fork TH around 2pm. 

Passing the many families splashing in the river, I took a right after the footbridge and headed down the Pratt Connector Trail (built by WTA only in 2010). At the junction with the Pratt River, hikers previously had to park their car at the adjacent Pratt River Bar and ford the Middle Fork Snoqualmie. A camp area exists here if you have a late start (or end) to a trek. 

Turning into the Pratt River Trail, the July overgrowth quickly crowds the trail, a throng of salmonberries, ferns, thimbleberries, angelica, and elderberry. Towards the end of the flat terrace, a signed trail forks to the right for the 'Big Tree Trail'. It is one singular tree, but it is indeed big, and a testament to what once blanketed the entire river valley. 

Following the Pratt River, you'll eventually level out onto a former logging railway, with a gentle, graded ascent. Occasionally strewn along the trail are relics of this era, including cables and metal fittings, the rails having been removed in the 1940s. I recall a natural spring draining onto the trail (really, a PVC pipe splashing into a plastic bucket) -- but didn't see it this time. Either (or both) may have since been removed. 

This trail was never really maintained, but the smooth grade has largely kept it intact. In 2018, I climbed over literally hundreds of fallen trees -- which WTA had cleared by 2022 as part of their 'Lost Trails Found' campaign. A dayhiker venturing too far got lost here for 9 days in 2021.

There's an occasional campsite next to the small creeks crossing the trail. With a very casual pace brushing the trail, bushwacking, and occasionally pulling out a hatchet to nub stubborn branch stubs, I hiked about 10 miles to the camp area at the end of the valley, where you'll need to cross the Pratt River. The water level is generally higher year round, and you may need to ford the water for a couple steps. There are small pink ribbons marking each side of the trail, though easily missed, and the thick devils club on the shore makes it easy to lose the trail. Cross the main river, then a small creek after. As you switchback up the mountain, the dense layer of duff indicates how lightly used the trail is. Even on a holiday weekend, I didn't come across anyone else.

[2] Pratt Lake > Rainbow/Island Lake > Mason Lake > Mt Defiance

At Pratt Lake, hop across the rocky drainage creek over to the eastern shore, where the sound of other campers return, along with established trail. If you want a quieter option, consider a detour to Lower Tuscohatchie Lake for camp. A pack of trail runners ducked down this junction, headed past Melakwa, back toward their cars at Denny Creek. 

Head up the slope for the Olallie / Island / Pratt trail junction, and turn westbound. Be sure to pause and glance left for views of looming Mt. Rainier, which I shared with an older hiker, chatting about some trail history. I took a quick detour to Island Lake, where I camped on my previous iteration of this trek. In the autumn, the lake covers with a layer of fog in the morning, and features a latrine with stunning views of the valley. 

Another quick stop at Mason Lake, where the gentle breeze provided a respite from flying bugs. Climbing up towards Mt Defiance, the open meadows become awash with wildflowers (and the flying bugs that accompany them -- making for a hasty descent). Graced with clear skies, Mt Rainier and Mt Adams loomed in the distance. Poles would help immensely with the steep, sandy slope of this short climb.

[3] Mt Defiance > Thompson Lake > Granite Creek TH

West of Mt Defiance, the trail again narrows and the crowd disappears. There's a footpath to Putrid Pete's Peak, but I wasn't paying attention to it. Some occasional patches of snow, likely gone within the next week or so. If you hike in late August or September, ringing the basin are explosive flushes of ripe huckleberries, sun-kissed from the treeless meadows. 

Descending to Thompson Lake, I saw a couple folks with fishing gear -- the lake is a renowned spot for snagging beautiful fish. Climbing over the ridge, you exit the wilderness boundary, and follow a rocky path down, passing the junction for Granite Lakes. At the bottom, you can fork left to the Granite Creek Connector, depositing you just a few minutes from the Mailbox Peak parking lot (where I started this trek in 2018). Keep right and you'll exit at the Granite Creek TH, with its own parking lot. 

[4] Granite Creek TH > Old Sitka Spruce Trail > CCC Trail > Middle Fork TH

At the Middle Fork road, I crossed the road, walk across the bridge, and started on the tiny path as folks splashed in the water nearby. This path -- the Old Sitka Spruce Trail -- was officially decommissioned by DNR, but appears to have some maintenance, with logs removed and evidence of some prior weedwhack.

I'm not sure who uses this trail, but it does surprisingly gets traffic -- even with the jungle-like growth. Be careful of the slippery clay near the tiny creek crossings. As you ascend, the trail is lined with thimbleberries and (my favorite) trailing blackberry. 

At the top, you'll join the CCC trail. Turning left takes you to a set of gravel roads -- winding through state and private lands -- exiting at Mt Si Road. To the right, you begin the CCC trail, flat but overgrown with salmonberries, fireweed, and more. This trail is likely clear in the shoulder months of spring/autumn, but scratched me up with eager July overgrowth. 

Near the Bessemer / Blowout Creek TH, two mountain bikers passed by, each of us surprised that someone else was on the trail. A series of newer bridges cross the major creeks (fringed by sweet trailing blackberries in the exposed sun). Plentiful trickles of water cross the CCC, but none difficult to step across.

The trail continues to be overgrown until you get to the Pratt Balcony Trail, where it suddenly widens from expanded use. With the sun setting, I opted to exit onto the empty Middle Fork Road with my headlamp, detouring off the final third of the CCC trail. 

At around 11pm, I finally reached my car at the Middle Fork TH lot, after having started at 7am (and clocking over 27 miles in one day!)

This loop is best done with at least two nights -- starting from Middle Fork TH, Granite Creek TH, or the Mason or Olallie trailheads. Going counterclockwise gives more options to setup camp if you can't hit big mileages. 

If you can navigate off-trail / bootpath travel, an even bigger loop would continue to Rock Creek > Snow Lake > Gem Lake > Chair Peak Lake > Melakwa > Lower Tuscohatchie > Pratt Lake.
The section between Gem and Melakwa is very much off trail and high-altitude, but can be done with basic wayfinding. 

Today's hike really owes a lot to the other trail reports for Absolute Last Promontory/Green Mountain, they really helped me narrow down how to make the best of this hike. 

I opted for the Blowout Creek/Bessemer trailhead. It adds a mile or two to the journey, but avoids the clearcuts of the other approach. This way follows the CCC trail from the Bessemer road to the bottom of the Green Mountain Trail. The approach is five miles, but it's mostly flat, so it goes quickly. There are a lot of little stream crossings, but none were problematic. There are a lot of flowers out, including the beginning of the foxgloves. There are lots of ripe salmonberries as well. As you get towards Brawling Creek there are some surprisingly good views across the Middle Fork Valley.

The start of the Green Mt/ALP trail was unmarked, but fairly obvious. GPS could be helpful. The first 1/2 mile of the forest is a lot of dead trees, don't be discouraged, it gets nicer. It appears at some point a lot of trail work happened here, but it's almost like it's just the upper part of the trail. Were they planning more, I wonder? 

The viewpoint is amazing. Don't stop at "Far Enough Promontory." (They should rename it "Not Far Enough Promontory.") The big view is slightly farther at Absolute Last Promontory, and worth a couple of extra steps. The promontory is nice and flat and wide with rocks to sit on.

I felt pretty happy with the viewpoint and the mileage, so I opted to skip the scramble up to Green Mountain. 

There were no other humans the entire hike. Wildlife was a pika and a few snakes (all of whom quickly slithered away from me as fast as they could). Total mileage was 12.5 - I parked at the Oxbow Lake trailhead rather than the Bessemer Gate. 

And big thanks to WTA trip reporter Dream Delay who suggested this hike to me in the comments of my Bessemer Mountain trip report.

I have been trying to complete the 3 sections of the CCC trail this spring.  Today I finally finished.  In March I did the upper (eastern) section.  Then I tried from the Bessemer Creek trailhead, starting with the Pratt Balcony trail and then proceeding to the CCC trail, only to be blocked by a raging stream (West Bessemer Creek).  Last month I took the Blowout Creek trailhead and did the lower (western) portion.  Today I again started at the Blowout Creek trailhead, turning east at the CCC trail intersection and did the middle section.  Yes, I know there is another section starting from the Mt Si road, but I think I will ignore that for now. 

This section of the trail is a pleasant walk in the woods, with mostly smooth trails, shallow grades, easy stream crossings and very few people.  In fact, the only other hikers I saw today were going up to South Bessemer Mtn or the Balcony.  There aren't lots of wonderful views or towering old growth trees, but there are lots of little flowers along the way and perhaps berries in a few weeks.  I even found (and ate) one ripe salmon berry.  I brought water shoes to cross the big creek, and then didn't even need them.  

A note here on doing this middle section.  When the streams are lower (like today) it is probably easier and shorter to start from the Pratt Balcony trailhead and head west.  This eliminates about 1.3 miles each way going up and then back down the Bessemer Road and you can include the Balcony for your lunch spot.

On the way back I took a side trip up the Bessemer Road, looking to reach Gossamer Falls, but ran out of time (and energy).  Perhaps another day.

Totals for this trip were 11.5 miles and 1600 feet gain.  I parked at the Oxbow Lake lot. A discovery pass is required.  The toilets for Oxbow Lake were clean and stocked, but note that the first one doesn't lock.  The other one does.