I headed out with WTA on a BCRT Thursday 7/10 - Saturday 7/12 to work on some of this trail. We entered the trail beyond Lebar Horse Camp, go past the yellow gate on NF 2934, I think about 3.5 miles to an unmarked trailhead. The last pit toilet we saw was before Lebar Horse Camp, there were no toilets at the TH we parked at, or at Camp Comfort where we camped at a mile or so in. 

Unmarked TH to Camp Comfort: it was under a mile from where we entered to Camp Comfort. There was a stock trail option here, but I took the hiker option in and out. When you come to a trail junction I'd say .8 miles in, there's a sign that says back to forest road, but if you look at the tree across and like 12 ft up, there is a Camp Comfort sign. You have to go over a downed log to go towards Camp Comfort, which also gives you access to the river and there were some good swim spots here. Lots of campsites at Camp Comfort, again no toilets here though. 

Trail Work: the group split into two. One of the groups hiked a lil over a mile out and did trail work, I was not part of that group, but from what I heard they brushed, cleaned up the trail, and removed rock that was in the way. I worked in the group closer to Camp Comfort, replacing a curb log that was on a steep tight corner of the trail. On our last day working, the whole group came together to finish up the curb log replacement. 

I have hiked different sections of this trail in the past, and would say Camp Comfort was the best spot for river access, since we felt like if you entered at the proper TH, you dont ever get good access to the river. 

We followed the previous comments and parked the car at the Lebar camp a little further up the road to skip the starting switchbacks. There is a trail that meets up to the main one from there. You take a right and the junction.

Great hike, great Washington nature. Nothing of particular note until getting to the river lookouts and accesses (there are few and some from lesser trails). There is one at the first camp area about 2 miles in, then another couple at camp comfort 4.5 in. Mostly flat hiking, with some up and down and a few short switchbacks. Camping at the camp comfort area was great. We went towards the river, past the rock banks, and there are some nice cleared out spots with a good view of the mountains and river, with benches as well.

Hike was good. About half mile past the turnoff to the river to the west, I saw numerous big piles of bear scat right in the trail. I wasn't sure which way it or they were going, but I turned around and went back. Why chance it?

Bomber overnight with a party of 4, started at lebar horse camp and ended at church creek shelter after a small river Ford. mosquitoes where really low key but the midgies where a little rampant. absolutely gorgeous views the whole way, trail super manageable, no long ascents or descents, saw some pheasants as well. weather very unpredictable, but stayed warm the whole time. 10/10 reccomend

This was a bit of a rehab hike but also exploratory for a future overnight. I hiked here for the first time late last year, and it's quite a gem. 

Arriving early at the proper TH, it was full which prompted me to take a look at the stock TH at Le Bar. Nobody there. But wait, there is more. Road 2353 runs somewhat parallel with the trail, and I noticed a few routes down to it last time on my GPS map. So I decided to try these. 

Heading west on 2353, I noticed a dispersed campsite on the south side. This is the TH for the 2353-140 trail that connects you to the Skokomish at the first campsite junction. This is a narrow and quite brushy trail, with a few bridges over currently dried out stream beds. It's about 1.5m and 400ft of elevation lost. 

Hanging a right, I followed the Skokomish trail all the way past the 4th bridge, continuing on past the stick-signed turnoff at the edge of the bridge that leads down to the river and campsites (all full today). I noticed a neon orange rope somewhere down there, so there must be a dicey spot or two to reach the water. 

Moving on, I passed my initial trips turnaround point just prior to a couple of ascending switchbacks. At the bottom of these are multiple entry points to a huge, beautiful rocky and sandy area that stretches a quarter mile and has many accessible camping areas. This was my break spot. 

Heading back to the trail, I immediately came upon a junction with the trail I was looking for, 2355-100. This is pretty short and well maintained, taking you up and over to the 2355 forest road. There is a small dispersed campsite here and room for 1-2 vehicles to park. From here, I road-walked back to my vehicle to a make a loop. 

I was noticed many tense Sage Grouse during this section, and one even popped out of seemingly nowhere during my road walk and charged at me! I was taken aback in the moment and yet managed to speed up my walk just enough to get out of its way in time. I recently learned it's nesting season, so this type of behavior is common. 

This area is pretty fascinating and I look forward to returning for a camping trip. It has it all- heat, brush, water, humidity, bugs, mud, old growth and maybe a quarter of the amount of people you'd see on a similar trail up the 101. 

RT 8.0m/599ft