The Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road is nicely paved... but the 6 mile Dingford and Dutch Miller Gap road is gravel and rocks. Please drive slowly and respect the rules of the road when you have to pass other vehicles.
We started at 8:30am on a Saturday morning. The trailhead parking lot was pretty filled so I backed in to a spot for easy exiting.
The trail starts off going up some switchbacks. We kept a moderately fast pace that my dog set and that definitely gave me a workout with my full pack. We saw a doe about 1/3 of the way up - so cool! There are some streams to cross. Some creeks require a bit more balance and careful stepping on rocks and logs - trekking poles would be beneficial for this if you have them - if not, then just take your time.
The trail is fairly easy up until the point where you pass the sign that splits the trail to either Myrtle Lake or Hester Lake. This is where the Mud Pit of Doom exists. The Mud Pit of Doom is about 3+ feet wide and about 4-6+ feet long. There is a thin and fragile looking log that you may be able to use to scooch across while sitting or use in another way... but beware... the Mud Pit of Doom looks drier than it seems in spots. Going up, I used the schooch method and seemed to do ok. My dog went through the mud without issue.
After the Mud Pit of Doom, the trail continues upwards slowly. The trees provide shade pretty much the entire way up. So we were in the shade as the morning mountain fog burned off. The trail is so pretty and green!!
We reached Myrtle Lake at about 12:00pm, making our trip up about 3.5 hours. We saw a total of 3 Rangers on the trail today.
The lake is pretty but doesn't seem to have many accessible spots from the shore. There was a camp site already established at the first area before the lake but the people were out and about. We continued a ways on the trail alongside the east side of the lake hoping to find a good spot to stop for lunch. We found a little tiny spot of snow which my dog enjoyed but then realized the trail was veering away from the lake and turned around. There is a good spot for lunch right on the other side of the little creek you cross.
We headed down at about 1pm. This is where I fell victim to the Mud Pit of Doom. I thought the spot where I placed my foot was safe... alas... that was not the case. Luckily I managed to stop the plunge into the squelchy depths of the pit before it was sucked in beyond the top of my hiking boot.
We managed to make it down in 2.5 hours. It was getting warm at this point and we passed several hikers and overnight campers on their way up. The parking lot was packed when we arrived at the car.
Coming back down the 6 mile Dingford and Dutch Miller Gap road is where I believe I got a flat tire when I had to move aside further off of the road than necessary due to oncoming vehicles that were not sharing the road and were driving too fast on the gravel and rocks. Luckily, I know how to change a tire so that was done in under 15 minutes once back on the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road.
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