Those who know me know I rarely hike along the I-90 corridor but today was an exception. The hubby’s car was in the shop and he needed a ride to work in Bellevue so I offered to get up early at 5:30am to take him. And to make it worth it, I decided to chose a hike near North Bend with the intention to keep it short so I could get back north before Friday afternoon traffic.
After searching on WTA, I opted to hike the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail. I had not been here since before the landslide in April of 2018, a short ramble in September of 2017 after dislocating and crushing my shoulder on a backpacking trip in Canada. It seemed like just the right hike for what was promising to be a wetter day than predicted originally.
I made the most of the drive in by stopping to check out Mine Creek Day Use area and then using the privy (where I spotted an elk meandering down the trail). A heron poised on the shoulder of the road watched me drive by, not sure of my intentions.
I arrived at the trailhead for the Middle Fork around 8am but took time to eat breakfast and assess whether rain gear was going to be needed by the frequency of sprinkles on the windshield. Conceding that it was necessary, I donned both rain pants and jacket before making my way across the bridge a little before 9am. I say I was on the Middle Fork last in 2017 but I did cross this bridge to do Stegosaurus Butte in February of 2018 but that is a righthand turn so does it really count?
There were only a few cars in the parking lot so I was not expecting much company (at least not at first). While admiring the flow of the river under the bridge, I was passed by a small work party and their four legged friend which peaked my interest. They were carrying a crosscut saw, was there much to cut ahead of us?
Making a turn on to the Middle Fork trail itself, the confluence of the the Snoqualmie and Taylor Rivers opened up. This is where many stop and then turn around, satisfied with a nibble of what the trail has to offer.
As I passed under Stegosaurus, my original plan to tack that on today was diminished as the summit was socked in (and would remain so for the rest of the hike). Those slabby walls are still pretty impressive, though. And the way the trees cling on!
The aspect I was most interested in seeing on this walk was the immense amount of trail work that had to be done after the landslide took out 200 feet of trail about a mile in from the trailhead. Not to mention all the maintenance after it being closed for 3 years.
Although I didn’t spot the beginning of the reroute on the way in, the new switchbacks that took the trail up and away from the river were obvious with the sharp blasting marks of the rock in the tread and newly carved backslope. And at about 1.7 miles in I could spot the abandoned trail down below making it easy to see where the old trail merged with the new one as I continued on.
I caught up to the work party who said they were with the forest service at a small foot bridge that had been smooshed about 2 miles in. Leaving them to their work, I crossed on a 4×4 and kept on meandering. Soon I was passing through the section where the trail still holds on to the memory of the road, wide and flat.
The rain did not persist the entire walk and a few patches of blue sky presented me with a snow covered East Garfield across the Snoqualmie. Everything was glistening and my rain pants worked mostly as gaiters for all the mud.
I opted to stop at the stream crossing just beyond Nine Hour Falls 3 miles in, eat a snack and return.
On the way back I paused at the battered bridge below Nine Hour and caught a glimpse of the minute falls up above (which I neglected to take a picture of). It was interesting in this section to see how the streams coming off of the ridges above have shifted as slides have affected drainages, leaving some to the moss covered boulders and created new ones without the benefit of foot bridges.
When I returned to the decimated bridge, they had removed the planking and made it temporarily possible to step down to the stream and back up with some steps and well placed rocks. A support beam was needed before planking could be replaced, a work party for another day.
Returning back on the reroute, the saturated clay soil from the long ago lake bed was more noticeable, as were all the check steps and drains to keep erosion at bay.
The path of the slide also stood out more to me from this perspective (another picture I didn’t take). I wondered how long before another one takes out all the hard work or when a reroute is needed on another section? Nature is ever in motion.
I passed a few groups on my way out but overall a quiet day on the Middle Fork. Who knows? Maybe I will be back for a longer ramble in another 6 years…
I have written about hiking the Middle Fork Snoqualmie here, in addition to using it as a back door route to popular Snow Lake. The Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail is considered the backbone of the trail network in the Middle Fork Valley, you can learn more about the slide closure and work to reopen it here.
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That looks like a beautiful and rugged area and trail. Lots of great photos.
Thank you, Meg. As a gateway into the Alpine Wilderness, it is a great example of what the Seattle area has to offer.
Lots of fun stuff up the MFK. Tin Cup Joe is worth the effort when the Middle Fork is at flood stage
I can imagine, the photos look spectacular. I saw the trail for Tin Cup Joe Falls on the map while out on the Middle Fork, maybe that will be the draw to get me back out on there soon!