Middle Fork of Snoqualmie River

Saturday, December 26 2009
Cumulative Elevation gain 420 ft
Trail length: 13 miles loop

Level of difficulty: Medium
It was the day after Christmas and the sun was shining bright. I have not done much of winter hikes so far. So I talked to David for the possibility of another hike together. David has been hiking in the Puget Sound area for several years and knows details of many of the trails by heart. Even though it would not be his first time hiking the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie river, he gracefully agreed to accompany me and here we set off again.
A section of the access road to the trail head was closed after damages during snowstorms last year but was apparently re-opened earlier this year. The last 5 miles of the road is still full of potholes. The road for most parts runs along the river as we passed those ragged tops of the Russian Butte and along the way witnessed some nice sights of Mount Garfield in the distance and snow covered trees by the riverside.

The trail head is located near a bend where the middle fork meets Taylor river while changing course from a north-westerly direction to south westerly. We pressed on as David wanted to check out the bridge over the Taylor river that leads to other spectacular destinations such as Snoqualmie Lake and Nordrum Lake. The bridge was gated for vehicular traffic but seemed to be fine for foot traffic. I shall probably in the summer to visit those lakes. But for now, we returned to the trail head of the middle fork. There was just one other car at the parking lot and two elderly gentlemen were getting ready for the hike.
Immediately beyond the parking lot, we crossed the middle fork river over a nice wooden bridge. The trail runs in a South-Easterly direction upstream along the valley of the Middle Fork river. There was only a very gentle elevation gain as we advanced. One gets spectacular glimpses of the Mount Garfield across the river. The ground had traces of snow all the way and some hard packed ice at some sections. The temperature was below freezing, yet it was not too cold to impede the enjoyment of hiking. At the six mile point, the trail splits. Continuing on the trail would take you to the Snow Lake. This would be an alternate way to get to the Snow Lake. The more popular trail for Snow Lake starts near the Snoqualmie pass. We followed the other leg of the fork to cross the bridge over the Middle Fork river and came upon the trail that follows the river on the north side. This is where another trail starts for the Myrtle Lake and Hester Lake - another couple of possible future destinations for me.

A little bit farther away is the bridge over the Dingford Creek which joins the Middle Fork river. We reached the bridge and enjoyed the cascading waterfalls on either side of the bridge before turning around to sit down near the Myrtle Lake trail head. There we rested a bit while eating snack lunch. We returned by this other trail that runs on an old forest logging road on the north side of the Middle Fork river. Some sections of the road is badly damaged and would not be negotiable by most vehicles. The trail is gated at the starting point to prevent any vehicular traffic.
It was a nice workout for a hiking in a winter day in December. It was cold but not much climbing was involved, and hence there was not much of a danger of falling down or getting injured. As we have found out, this is a trail that can be hiked safely all year round.

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