Hiking with Annie
October - December
2013
Trailhead: N47 32.880 W121 32.213 (NAD83) Elevation: 1000 ft Distance: 9.5 miles Elevation gain: 305 ft Hike time: 11:13 am to 4:02 pm Total time: 4 hrs 49 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 31 10.5 W121 28 29.3 Elevation: 1305 ft Total Ascent: 1260 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 34 at the east end of North Bend. Turn north onto 468th Ave SE and follow for about 1/2 mile. Make a sharp right onto Middle Fork Rd and follow for about .9 mile. At this point you can take either the left or right fork. The right fork - Follow Lake Dorothy Rd for about 10-1/2 miles to the trailhead on the right. At about 1.6 miles, Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56 about where the pavement ends. The left fork - Continue on Middle Fork Rd for about 1.2 miles to the stop sign. Turn left onto Lake Dorothy Rd and follow for about 9-1/4 miles to the trailhead on the right. Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56 between .3 and .4 mile.
Hike description: After crossing the Gateway Bridge we turned left and headed upstream along the river. We made our way alongside Stegasaurus Butte, reaching the end of it just as the west peak of Garfield Mtn came into view. After another 2 miles the trail comes back down to the river and follows alongside for a short distance before heading back into the forest again. Another 1-1/4 miles and we came to the bridge over Cripple Creek where it tumbles down from the myriad of lakes on Preacher Mtn to the river below. After a short rest we turned around here and headed back to the trailhead.
Oct 06 - Middle Fork Snoqualmie River: Upstream
Trailhead: N47 32.880 W121 32.213 (NAD83) Elevation: 1000 ft Distance: 6.4 miles Elevation gain: 40 ft Hike time: 11:38 am to 3:20 pm Total time: 3 hrs 42 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 31 38.4 W121 34 47.8 Elevation: 1040 ft Total Ascent: 1290 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 34 at the east end of North Bend. Turn north onto 468th Ave SE and follow for about 1/2 mile. Make a sharp right onto Middle Fork Rd and follow for about .9 mile. At this point you can take either the left or right fork. The right fork - Follow Lake Dorothy Rd for about 10-1/2 miles to the trailhead on the right. At about 1.6 miles, Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56 about where the pavement ends. The left fork - Continue on Middle Fork Rd for about 1.2 miles to the stop sign. Turn left onto Lake Dorothy Rd and follow for about 9-1/4 miles to the trailhead on the right. Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56 between .3 and .4 mile.
Hike description: After we crossed the Gateway Bridge, instead of going left as on the previous hike, we turned to the right and headed downstream. We made our way around the northwest end of Stegasaurus Butte before crossing Rainy Creek. From here the trail, known as the Pratt River Connector trail, roughly follows the river for the next mile. After that the river strays a bit to the north while the trail continues on its roughly southwest course. Its nearly 1-1/2 miles before the river loops back to the south and the two are adjacent again. From here its just a short distance to the end of the connector trail as it joins the Pratt River trail as it heads southeast along the Pratt River. This is where we stopped. After eating lunch, we headed back to the trailhead, reaching the car at 3:20. One last note about this hike - its astonishing how many different types of fungi grow in this area. I photographed only the ones I thought were the most interesting, but there were many other types.
Oct 14 - Middle Fork Snoqualmie River: Downstream
Trailhead: N47 32.880 W121 32.213 (NAD83) Elevation: 1480 ft Distance: 4.3 miles Elevation gain: 1125 ft Hike time: 12:02 pm to 3:33 pm Total time: 3 hrs 31 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 31 26.7 W121 25 02.3 Elevation: 2605 ft Total Ascent: 1415 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 34 at the east end of North Bend. Turn north onto 468th Ave SE and follow for about 1/2 mile. Make a sharp right onto Middle Fork Rd and follow for about .9 mile. At this point you can take either the left or right fork. The right fork - Follow Lake Dorothy Rd for about 16-1/2 miles to the trailhead. At about 1.6 miles, Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56 about where the pavement ends. At about 11-1/2 miles (just after crossing the Taylor River), FR56 takes a sharp right while straight ahead becomes FR5640. The left fork - Continue on Middle Fork Rd for about 1.2 miles to the stop sign. Turn left onto Lake Dorothy Rd and follow for 15-1/4 miles to the trailhead. Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56 between .3 and .4 mile. At about 10-1/2 miles (just after crossing the Taylor River), FR56 takes a sharp right while straight ahead becomes FR5640.
Hike description: We should have started much earlier as it was just past noon before we left the trailhead. Forest Road 56 is pretty challenging to begin with, but the last 5-6 miles is even more challenging - it took 2 hours to reach the trailhead. On the trail, the first mile is the toughest, gaining over 1000 ft before leveling off to a gentler grade. Not far from the trailhead we found a sidetrail leading to the top of Dingford Creek Falls - although its tough to get a good view of it through the trees. Nearly a mile from the trailhead we passed a couple of small creeks coming down the hillside to the north. Both probably come from Pumpkinseed Lake above. The 2nd one is a slide falls coming down the sheer granite hillside of the gulley. At 2 miles out the trail crosses Goat Creek, which on this cold, clear day was coating the nearby brush with ice. I originally planned on hiking to Hester Lake, but knew that with the late start we wouldn't make it. I was hoping to at least make it to the trail junction but being unfamiliar with the trail and the road out I didn't want to get caught in the dark - so, a short distance past Goat Creek, we turned back.
Nov 24 - Dingford Creek
Trailhead: N47 32.880 W121 32.213 (NAD83) Elevation: 1480 ft Distance: 7.9 miles Elevation gain: 1530 ft Hike time: 8:46 am to 4:12 pm Total time: 7 hrs 26 minutes Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 31 47.8 W121 24 02.2 Elevation: 3010 ft Total Ascent: 1700 ft
Driving directions: From I-90, take exit 34 at the east end of North Bend. Turn north onto 468th Ave SE and follow for about 1/2 mile. Make a sharp right onto Middle Fork Rd and follow for about .9 mile. At this point you can take either the left or right fork. The right fork - Follow Lake Dorothy Rd for about 16-1/2 miles to the trailhead. At about 1.6 miles, Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56 about where the pavement ends. At about 11-1/2 miles (just after crossing the Taylor River), FR56 takes a sharp right while straight ahead becomes FR5640. The left fork - Continue on Middle Fork Rd for about 1.2 miles to the stop sign. Turn left onto Lake Dorothy Rd and follow for 15-1/4 miles to the trailhead. Lake Dorothy Rd becomes FR56 between .3 and .4 mile. At about 10-1/2 miles (just after crossing the Taylor River), FR56 takes a sharp right while straight ahead becomes FR5640.
Hike description: I decided to make another run at Hester Lake. We hiked up past the same features as the previous Sunday, stopping to try for better photos of the slide falls on Pumpkinseed Creek about a mile up the trail. When we reached Goat Creek, it was apparent how much warmer it was on this hike as almost all the ice around the creek was gone. About noon we passed the place we turned around on the previous hike. The trail gets much rougher past here - not steep, just rough. We reached the trail junction at 12:40 and stopped here for lunch. Afterward we headed down toward Hester Lake but, after a short while, lost the trail about a 1/4 mile down - so we turned around, going back up to the trail junction. I was ready to head back, but it was still early, so I decided to hike up the Myrtle Lake trail for a bit. We hiked up about 1/2 mile before turning around and heading back. The weather got so gloomy on the way back that in the heavily forested areas it was down right dark - I was tempted to get my headlamp out. We got back to the car at about 3:20, dropped off our packs and walked down around the corner to Dingford Creek Falls, about .2 mile away. We got back to the car 15 minutes later.
Nov 29 - Dingford Creek
Trailhead: N47 23 34.0 W121 28 27.7 (NAD83) Elevation: 1940 ft Distance: 6.9 miles Elevation gain: 1680 ft
Hike time: 11:00 am to 4:08 pm Total time: 5 hrs and 8 min Permit required: Northwest Forest Pass
Destination: N47 21 37.1 W121 28 31.2 Elevation: 3620 ft Total Ascent: 2455 ft
Driving directions: Take exit 47 off I-90 and turn south toward the river. Just past the river, at the "T", turn left onto NF5590. Follow for .4 mile to the end of the road and the trailhead parking lot.
Hike description: The trailhead has a large parking area as it also accommodates the Asahel Curtis picnic area and scenic walk. The trail roughly follows alongside Humpback Creek for the entire hike, actually crossing it a short distance from the trailhead. Just over 1/2 mile from there, it crosses up and over the Iron Horse trail before winding up and along the flank of Silver Peak. At about 2-1/2 miles from the trailhead, views begin to open up across the creek valley at Humpback Mtn. Most of these clearings are avalanche chutes so that should be kept in mind during the winter. From here, the lake is a fairly easy mile away.
Dec 16 - Annette Lake
A note about the Google maps: Because of the way the Google maps work, the marker for the parking lot or trailhead is not always in the right position on the map. However, there is a way to find the exact position. First copy the GPS coordinates from the description below the map. Then click on the word Google in the lower left corner of the map. This opens another window with a full sized map of the area. Paste the coordinates into the search box and hit enter. A red marker appears at the exact coordinates of the parking lot or trailhead. You can also get directions to it by clicking the word "Directions" - just under the box you pasted the coordinates into - and then entering a starting location.