Large tree blocking road about 4 MI from the trailhead, impassable. someone was trying to chainsaw it away.

Disclaimers

Quick-and-dirty version

Access: Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trailhead
Round Trip: 11.8 miles
Elevation Range: 1000'-1440'
Essential Gear: none
Dog-Friendly: yes

THE ROAD

• Similar to yesterday's report, some debris but no downed tree today, passable in all vehicles

THE TRAILS

• Not much has changed since yesterday's report, debris and small windfalls were easy to step over.
• A large unnamed creek at mile 2.75 past Nine Mile Creek needed more focus to cross over slippery rocks.
• Mile 3.25 and 3.75, groups of windfalls may require leaving the trail briefly to bypass.
• Mile 5, the beautiful, two-tiered Cripple Creek Falls

My Route

I turned around at Dingford Creek Trailhead. I've wanted to check out the crossing over the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River below the parking for some time. But despite having started several trips from there, I hadn't bothered to walk the short way down.

Highlights

• Constant view of Mount Garfield above the trees despite being in the forest the entire time
• Access trails to the river
• The occasional sunshine and blue sky above the trees, plus solitude

Lowlights

• None

Hiked up to nine hour creek and turned around.  Some small trees down but everything is easily passable.  Lots of water on the trail.  The Middle Fork road has some debris and trees down from the recent wind.  One tree down may be difficult for taller vehicles (sprinter van or similar) to go under but was fine for my mid-sized pickup.

We knew it was going to be wet today, but jeez! Since we were going to be in raingear and layered up, we wanted something a bit less straight up. And perhaps something that was rainforest-like. So we took our first trip onto the Middle Fork Trail. Bathrooms were open and stocked.

We did not wear rain pants. I felt it was enough that I wore pants, but my partner had cotton hiking pants and regretted not wearing something over them. I should've stuck with shorts. Anyway, it was chilly and raining the whole trip, at times quite hard.

The first 0.8 miles or so was a bit muddy, but not horrible. The water running down the trail kept our shoes clean. Most of the time our shoes, the trail, and water all shared the same space. We encountered no blockages at least. The continual rain and ground water eventually dampened my feet and soaked my partner's. We reached about 3.0 miles and decided not to try to cross the fast running creek. The trail was underwater on the other side anyway.

On the way back we heard two separate loud crashes, one just 100 feet behind us and another that sounded like a boulder into the river. The power of water.

Quiet day today. We actually saw more people with trees on their cars then we did on the trail.

We arrived at the trailhead around 11am and I was pleased to see there was plenty of parking available even on a sunny, yet cold, Sunday after a holiday! There was no toiletpaper in the outhouse, so it needs re-stocking.

I last did this trail on November 15th and since that report, the small bridge has been fixed. The major stream crossing we had to do last time was completely dry this time (WHERE DID THE WATER GO?!) so there weren't any difficult crossings. It was COLD today, but no snow, just frost and slippery bridges. There were a few logs down over the trail, but getting over or around them was manageable. 

We hiked 8 miles round trip (stopped at the 4 mile mark where the trail comes down to the river). We had lunch on the river before turning around. We got back to the car around 3:30pm.