My daughter requested an outing after her finals today, and we’ve been planning a trip out the Middle Fork Road. I picked her up midday, and we headed out there. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get very far based on recent trip reports, but the plow was out today, and the Middle Fork Road has been cleared out to the campground. Most parking areas and pullouts have been plowed at least partway, as well.
We were going to set up a little shelter and a mini solo stove, and enjoy the peace of the forest, but we ended up changing our plans. There was wet, sloppy snow everywhere. Though it was almost 60° at the freeway exit, it was 37° and raining in the valley. The rivers were raging. At first we went to the Garfield picnic area- but the river was so loud, it was eating away at the bank, and a tree had fallen in the river (I had just been there 2 weeks ago, the tree had been standing!) We didn’t feel like it was a peaceful atmosphere to decompress.
We went back to the Middle Fork parking area, which is plowed partly, but there are piles of slush and deep puddles. We walked out to the bridge and marveled at the water. We decided we didn’t feel like setting up at picnic areas there, either.
We ended up walking around the loop at Camp Brown. The trail has 3-6 inches of snow. Some sections have very deep water. The river bar was covered by the river. There were several smaller trees down, and one larger mess of trees that was harder to deal with.
By the time we were done, we were soaked through all our layers and getting chilled. I was not feeling great about being back in that valley with the possibility of landslides, trees falling, or the road caving in. It just felt a bit too active out there weather wise. So we went into town and got hit coffees and went to look at Snoqualmie Falls.
Though we didn’t achieve exactly what we wanted, we were still invigorated and happy.
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