I participated in a one day work party with WTA, on the Notch Pass trail.  On April 21 we scouted from trailhead #1 up to about the 1.7 mile mark where there were 2 large stumps blocking the trail.   On April 27 we returned with a 9 person crew to remove the two stumps.   We accessed the work site from trail head #2.   The road to TH 1 is passable, with several large potholes.  This trailhead only has space for 3 vehicles.  The trail from TH 1 to TH 2 is passable with about 10 "step over" trees on the trail, and one "crawl under" log.  The hike is a steady uphill hike thru beautiful mature forrest.  Overall hiking time from TH 1 to TH 2 was about 1.5 hours.   We encountered patches of snow off the trail in the last 1/4 mile below the pass.  The road (FS2700100) to TH 2 has 2 or 3 large potholes that are passable, but is severely overgrown with brush.   Note that Penny Creek Road (FS27) has been brushed and we only saw a few small potholes up to the 100 road.   Over all this is a good hike, and working with great people made for a memorable day.    WTA has another crew coming in on May 7 to remove the remianing down logs, and do some annual maintenance from TH 1 uphill.  

The narrow forest road to the lower trailhead was snow free. There were some pretty massive potholes but they were described by the ranger as 6 inches deep and were easily navigated in our Crosstrek. If you had a lower clearance car, you could probably do it, but it would be tricky.
There are several blow downs along the trail in varying levels of difficulty. Be prepared to crawl or climb!
You have a pleasant forest climb, then cross a road, and begin to descend on the trail to the upper trailhead. There was a tiny bit of snow between the two talus slopes on each side, but only 100 feet or so.
When you get to the upper trailhead, you go right on the road and then follow the trail to continue to descend down to the river. There are several beautiful bridge crossings. We turned around at the bridge right before Bark Shanty Camp.
Be mentally prepared for a descent climb back up!
We probably saw 10 people all day.

Decided to head to the Olympic Peninsula today to avoid wildfire smoke. There are two trailheads for this hike. The lower trailhead only has space for two cars. The upper trailhead has room for 6-8. The upper trailhead is in the middle of the out and back hike. The lower trailhead is listed as the start of this hike. If you park at the upper trailhead you will have to pass your car at least once to do the whole hike. We parked at the upper trailhead and hiked to the lower trailhead and back. Trail in great shape. A few blow downs but all passable. Nice shaded, dense forest hike. We were the only ones on the trail today. Great hike to get away from people. Been to Bark Shanty before and it is worth heading towards, but we got a late start today and decided to call it a day when we made it back to the car.

Hiked up from the East side trail head.  A few minor obstacles (downed trees) present but they were not a problem.  There is a reliable spring-fed creek at about 1.5 miles (very refreshing on a hot day).   The parking area is very tight for turning around.  High ground clearance vehicle would be ideal, but I made in a passenger car.  The NOTCH PASS sign at the trail head is easy to miss, so look for the slightly wider area to park or turn around about 1.5 miles in.   Few people hike this route apparently as I had the trail to myself (same as before).   The grade is steady but not terribly steep.  A few berries but no flowers this late in the year except at the road where the trail hits the pass.  

We'd driven past the point where the notch pass trail crosses FS 27 a number of times.  Have hiked notch pass down to Lower Big Quilcene in the past as well.  This time we explored uphill from FS 27 on notch pass to the high point.  It is an entirely different world than the NP to LBQ.  Almost dryer in some ways, without heavy fern/salal, etc cover, but shady and cool.  Lots of moss, noticed that rocks along the trail were all wet and realized it was condensation from moisture blowing over the pass from the straits.

Then we explored road 100 which crosses the NP trail near the top.  We turned to the left, uphill, to see if we could get high enough for a view out.  Only went a mile or so and then turned back.  Dry, hottish, glad to get back in the shade.  This would be a great fall/winter exploratory hike.

Lots of flowers, including Turk's cap, valarian, penstemon.

Next we checked out another gravel road a little further down FS 27.  This is noted severally, as road 090 and 093.  It's a one-track that rapidly narrows as you climb above 2800'.  In our Prius, prudence took the better part of valor and we managed, just, to turn around and come back down.  However about a mile or so from the FS 27 junction, where the road swings with a southern exposure there are nice peek-a-boo views of Constance.

This is another road we'd like to explore in a car with higher clearance!