Day Hike - Middle Fork Snoqualmie River

9 of us from the Mountaineers enjoyed sunbreaks and mushrooms galore on a 12 mile hike between storms this morning. There was one downed tree near the side of the road but the tree down across the one-way just past Mailbox has been completely cleared.

The latrine door needs to be secured with a rock or it will fall open - evidence of critters chewing toilet paper (well stocked, yay!) for nesting material was apparent. Please, secure all latrines.

Northwest Forest Pass is needed at this trailhead. We arrived at 6:30 for a 6:45 departure at dawn and were first on the trail. On the day we saw one backpacker, 3 day hikers, and two more day hikers about to start at 1:15 when we returned to the cars. Moving time for 12 miles was 5:41 for a 2.2 mph pace.

The trail is in good shape for the most part, with apparent drainage work and at least a dozen bridges to cross. There are definitely areas of mud so be prepared with waterproof footwear.

We stayed on the "high trail" going out and "river access" coming back. The "river access" has seen much better days, with 8-9 downed trees and branches, some of which we were able to clear as we went.

We only had one dicey stream crossing which is a choose-your-own adventure but passable.

The best mushrooms are down by the "river access" path which we looped along on the way back, a very nice way to get a little new scenery. Be careful on the wooden bridges as they're slick in the recent rainfall. I slipped on one of the larger foot bridges (NOT the span bridge) but bounced right back to my feet, unscathed.