We started at the Middle Fork Trail-head and were happy to see the blowdowns in the first few miles have been removed. Thanks! There is mud in many places, creeks to cross, overgrown salmon berry bushes, some erosion along the river right next to the trail that made me nervous and the Cripple Creek bridge has a tree on it. It is a fairly level hike and very pretty. After enjoying the view from the Cripple Creek bridge and a snack we headed up the unmarked path, if you can call it that, toward Tin Cup Joe Falls. It is rugged, steep and hard to follow. We made it around many down trees but were stopped at a spot right along the raging creek where many huge trees have fallen and created a giant pile of logs that didn't seem safe to climb over,though it looks like some people have. There didn't seem to be any way around it either. So we sadly turned around. I'd love to see a good trail up to those falls!

Hiked from Dingford Creek bridge to Goldmyer Hot Springs following the Middle Fork Trail on the south side of the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. Our return trip followed the road along the north side of the River. Today was a very nice day for a hike, even though mostly cloudy, as the scenery did not rely upon a lot of sun. Drive in and out: The drive follows 15 miles of dirt road with many chuck holes, taking 1 hour. The drive up the first 9 miles to the Middle Fork trail head was 30 minutes, while the last 6 was slower and also took 30 minutes. The drive is doable, but goes slow as caution is needed. The road is closed at Dingford Creek, where the trail begins. The middle fork trail was in pretty good shape but we did need to ford a couple strong fast flowing creeks. The worst creek was Thunder creek, as the water was fast, and dropped downhill fast. After we crossed, a log was being put in place for a better passage by a couple gentlemen. Most of the fallen logs have been cut, but a few big ones still cross the trail. Much of the trail after Wildcat Creek follows an old train route which was used about 90 to 100 years ago taking people to the Hot Springs. Findlng Goldmyer: At about 6 miles a sign read Burntboot Creek. This creek was much bigger than I had expected. When I saw it, I mistook it for the middle fork of the Snoqualmie. To get to Goldmyer Hot Springs or to continue up the Middle Fork trail, you will have to cross this fast flowing river (creek). A couple large logs have been put in place for crossing. I felt safe and crossed easily, but my wife was nervous while crossing. She made it okay. Before crossing, we found an old abandoned trail just before the river, which heads up to Red Mountain. The small sign read Red Mtn 4 miles. Goldmyer Hot Springs: This site is on private property and is operated by a nonprofit group. They charge $15 per person to visit the springs or grounds. We took our chances as we did not have a reservation, but we were still allowed in. Only a limited number (20) of people are allowed into the hot pools each day. (See their website: http://www.goldmyer.org for more information.) Once getting registered by the caretaker, we hiked up the hill to the Hot Springs. The springs are close to the Burntboot creek as it drops downhill over many water falls. The hot springs come out of a cave, and into a couple small pools. Inside the cave, is a larger pool, which may be 8 feet wide and may go into the cave 30 feet Return to car: we chose to walk the road back to the car. The 4 ½ mile road was mostly level and in very good shape.

We hiked the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River today from the trail head up to the Dingford Bridge crossing and back. Total altitude gain around 1700 feet. The last 10 miles of the road driving to the trail head is dirt and does have potholes, but not at many as last year. Some sections were pretty good while others not. The 10 miles took around 30 minutes. A WTA crew was working on the trail, doing trail work, brush clearing, and cutting logs from the trail. There are still a lot of logs over the trail, and many areas with mud, overgrowth, and tough going, but the trail is still quite do-able. Many beautiful scenes, with the Snoqualmie river, Cripple Creek falls, moss, trees, country side, trail out sections, and creek crossings. We had a great hike, and will do it again. Note: even though we did not drive it, the road is open all the way to Dingford Creek.

With snow hanging around late, the Middle Fork trail is a great alternative. A couple of things to keep in mind: - the Middle Fork Road has really bad potholes full length. Expect slow going with 30 minutes or more to the Middle Fork trailhead. - snow melt has streams high. Casual dayhikers were turning back at 9-hour creek (about 2.1 miles in) due to water. There are stepping stones but they were about 2-3" underwater. Goretex boots and trekking poles made it a straightforward cross. - When you are going through the blowdown just before that creek, as you cross the cedar log, look up! There is a big Douglas fir in front of you (the 9-hour Giant) that many people miss. - The trail is in outstanding shape to that creek. There was even a WTA crew doing some great work on Saturday but it gets worse beyond. Frequent blowdowns and mud are common. The two places where the trail goes down to the river are narrow and severely undercut. Be careful here! - If going past (or starting from) Dingford, the trail is passable but with quite a few blowdowns and mud. Thunder Creek is the most challenging crossing with a rather tenuous log. The bugs weren't out yet and it was a beautiful night to camp by Rock Creek.

Road condition: After reading many reports I was afraid I wouldn't make it to the trailhead with my Prius, but the potholes, while worse than last year, were ok to navigate. I parked at the CCC trailhead about 2 miles before the Middle Fork trailhead, but running on the road .... the last 2 miles are not any worse than the rest of the road. Went for a long trail run to Goldmeyer hot springs and back. Trail conditions for each section: CCC trail to Middle Fork trailhead: Trail is well maintained, was recently worked on. There are 2 large trees across the trail that make it very difficult for stock (one is about 4' above ground and right by a bridge / creek crossing), but easy for hikers to navigate. Run time: 26 min First 6 miles of Middle Fork trail to bridge at Dingford creek: (Pratt connector trail had signs: "close to the public" and "blasting zone ahead") Lots of work done on first mile. WTA: please do not covert this trail to the Autobahn, covering it with several inches of gravel. If I want to run on gravel I can go to Dicscovery Park. The huge slides from last year at about milepost 2 did not suffer any further damadge this winter (or it got already fixed). Between MP 3 and 4, where the trail comes close to the edge of the river, the trail is passable, but the river has claimed another 2-4 ft. Some major trail relocation will be reqired soon. Further upriver several large trees came down on the trail but a chainsaw crew went through and made the trail passable, as long as you can duck under and step over large logs. A tree came down onto the Cripple Creek bridge at about MP 5, but only broke the guard rail - no structural damadge to the bridge itself. A few hudred feet from the bridge at Dingford Creek 2 large trees block the trail, but not a problem to climb around (see pics.) Did not see a single person on the trail. Run time: 53 min Dingford Creek (MP 6) to Goldmeyer: Impressive Cedar tree near the bridge (see pic). Passed a group of about 15 people with large backpacks 300 yards from bridge, headed upstream. Trail is in decent shape, again with a lot of large blow-down, but partially chain-sawed out so it is easily passable. Biggest obstacle was Thunder Creek crossing as the logs that were there last year were gone. Got lucky and found a log of the right size and lenght, carried it to the creek and wedged it in between 2 boulders. Also fixed 2 longer but thinner logs as "hand rails". It's not ideal, but better than before. (see pic) The next stream crossing also has no bridge but is pretty easy. The 3-logs bridge across Burnboot Creek (see pic) did not get washed away this winter, so that crossing is easy. After you cross Burnboot it's 200 yards to the hotsprings. Burnboot Creek - Red Mtn Pass (old PCT) trail: Just before you cross Burnboot creek on your way to Goldmeyer, the old PCT follows Burnboot creek upstreams for 200 or so yards, passing "trail not maintained beond this point" and "no bikes" signs. See pic for start of old PCT trail. Shortly after the signs the trail starts climbing towards the pass and becomes a lot easier to follow than the first 200 yards. I went about 1000ft above the river level before I hit snow and turned around. There are some blow-downs, but not to bad. I did the Alpental, Snow Lake, Middle Fork, Red Mtn Pass, Alpental loop run last year. Unless you bring ice axe I would not recommend this trail until the steep, NE facing gully just below the pass has mostly melted out. Run time: 34 min out and back Goldmeyer back to middle fork trailhead: Run time 1:34h. Never saw the group of 15 hikers, bt did see one guy on a mountain bike about 1 mile from the trailhead. The poster on the trailhead relating to mountainbikes on the middle fork trail says that it is open to mountain bikes ever other day from "June 1st 2008 to (sometime in) October 2008". Not sure if the regulations have changed since then. USFS, how about putting up a new poster while you're out there giving those without parking pass a ticket? Trailhead to car: about 2 miles on the road, 15 min of running.