North Fork Skykomish River — Sunday, Sep. 8, 2024

We were camping at Troublesome Creek (a really lovely hidden gem of a spot, by the way!) and wanted to hike somewhere nearby and uncrowded without a lot of elevation gain. So we hiked up the first three miles of the North Fork Skykomish trail, turning around at the intersection with Pass Creek Trail. The first mile isn't as nice as the rest, as it's an old road. At about 1.3 miles it becomes a well-maintained trail through serene old growth forest. Lots of mushrooms coming out, berries are gone. We passed by a few trickles of water, nothing big enough to dip into though, and passed no one our entire time there on a Sunday. It's a great spot for some forest bathing, no big views or lakes unless you're going father up to Dish Pan Gap. After returning to the parking lot we took the first 100 yards or so of the West Cady Ridge Trail to a bridge spanning a deep gorge in the river. It was well worth the extra excursion!