Middle Fork to Snoqualmie Pass Traverse

After exploring the Tin Cup Falls trail a few weeks ago, I’d been itching to try this linkup. My original plan was a lollipop loop—climbing past Tin Cup, over to Derrick, then finishing via Snow Lake and back down the Middle Fork Trail. But with a late start and a dog in tow, we knew that plan wasn’t realistic.

The Tin Cup Falls trail itself is a blast—steep, primitive, and very much a climbers’ path. On my solo outing I’d turned around at the falls since I didn’t feel comfortable pushing higher without anyone knowing my location. Rescue in there would be very hard, (something we had to contemplate after someone in our party fell 10-20 feet, luckily she was one of those people that knows how to fall and wasn't hurt.)

We continued past the falls toward Derrick, prepared for a bushwhack to connect over to Upper Wildcat. The Tin Cup trail peters out about 500m below Derrick Lake, forcing you onto the riverbed. This section is probably only safe when flows are low, so September was ideal. Derrick itself felt remote—just a fire ring and a rusted frying pan hinted at human presence. We couldn’t find much of a trail around the lake, so we waded through the shallows instead.

The little lake below Derrick

From the north side, a boulder field offered an easier path than brush, though it was brutal on the dog. She had to be lifted from boulder to boulder, which slowed us down considerably. Midway up, I even spotted an old shovel—another relic of some past traveler/miner? Eventually we topped out on the ridge and scrambled down the lowest saddle into Upper Wildcat (something that was again not suitable for dogs). The descent showed faint signs of previous passage, whether by people or goats.

After hours of slow off-trail travel, seeing Upper Wildcat bustling with campers felt surreal. From there the route turned familiar and fast: down past Upper and Lower Wildcat, Gem, and Snow Lake. All were packed with tents, though Gem stood out as the prettiest and the only one I’d actually camp at.

We ran out of daylight on the descent from Snow Lake, finishing the last thirty minutes in the dark alongside a stream of hikers and climbers.