[Guiran]

I had grand plans of reaching Dutch Miller Gap on Friday - only made it about two miles up the valley before turning back, but got some nice views and had a good time hiking. My car has pretty poor clearance, so I parked at the fork for Snoqualmie Lake and hopped on my bike for 12 miles of fun on the Middle Fork. In retrospect, I probably could have driven another mile or two and avoided a big hill before the washout. Other than the slide and washout, the road is in decent shape to Dingford. I saw a few passenger cars beyond both blockages, so if you have decent clearance and don't care too much about your car's undercarriage, you can easily get that far. Beyond Dingford the "road" is a mess. I'd heard the stories about the size of the potholes, but seeing truly is believing. Came across an older model Audi parked on a dry hump between two enormous puddles of indeterminant depth. Apparently, if you *really* don't care about your car, you can get that far. Last car sighting was a Toyota Tacoma parked at the first big slide before Goldmeyer. At this point, I was pretty beat from biking and was wishing I had a Toyota Tacoma. Beyond the slides, the road is actually in pretty solid shape. Snow started about a mile and a half below the trailhead, so I locked my bike to a tree and headed up the rest of the way on foot. Reached Dutch Miller Gap TH around 12:30 - 2:10 after setting out from the Sunday Lake fork - and was already feeling pretty beat. Hiked in about two miles, marvelling at the scenery before deciding to turn around. I figure I could have made it to Dutch Miller Gap if I really pushed myself, but I was by myself, and didn't relish the thought of biking back down in the dark. So, after snapping one last picture, turned around and headed back. The bike ride back to the car was more fun than the ride up, though I wouldn't actually call biking in either direction "fun". Back at the car around 5 and home in Seattle before 6:30. Good times. Definitely planning to head back for an overnight in a higher clearence vehicle in a few weeks! Approach Note: A while back when we were having the discussion about the proposed gating of Road 56 a number of folks (including myself) commented that it wouldn't be that bad to bike the road from Dingford to the end. I won't pretend to be in great biking shape, but I'll say it's a nasty ride. Better than walking, to be sure, but no joy. With all the loose rocks and potholes I didn't really make much better time going down than coming up. I think if you parked at Dingford, you could probably do the ride in less than 1:30 without completely wrecking yourself.

DMG-1

DMG-2

[MtnGoat]

It's been my experience that ones perception of the road as a mess is inversely proportional to the clearance height of the observers vehicle, and the amount of driving one does on lousy roads. I wouldn't say it's well maintained, but it's far from a mess unless you don't drive many roads that are actually really bad. Anyhow, did you make it to the stretch of trail about a mile in where the river is in a series of short drops right next to the trail? I like that stretch.

[Guiran]

Are you talking about the falls near the first mile marker? Was really nice through there. Took a picture, but the camera decided to focus on the brush in the foreground instead of the falls in the back. I'd want at least 8" of clearance for some of the mud puddles, since you can't see if there's a submerged rock. I'd say the condition of the road is a close tie with Mine Road accessing Whitehorse. I'm sure there are worse access roads - but I've never had the "pleasure" of trying to drive them.

[MtnGoat]

Yeah, those are the ones! The spot when you realize this trail is going to be cool!

[Backpacker Joe]

My good man, if you made it to Dutch Miller from the Sunday lake area you R DA MAN! Wrong drainage. Sunday lake is out of the North Fork of the Snoqualmie. Nice report. TB

[Guiran]

Whoops. Snoqualmie Lake fork. Too many lakes.

[Kat]

[wolfs]

I've always suspected that biking the Middle Fk Road would not really be any fun. I have abused my vehicle going as far as Goldmyer several times, and I would imagine the same road conditions there that make it so you can't go more than 5mph in a car/truck (basically a jagged raw rock surface, interspersed w huge humps and puddles) would make it so you can't make that speed in a bike either PLUS you have to work harder to find that out. I'm really hoping that a) MBNF will go through with some kind of plan to allow biking on the RR grade trail on the other side, like maybe the proposed odd-number day plan the promised and b) that this grade in fact is any better for biking, or at least not so much worse that it offers some viable variety for a loop trip.

[Allison]

Thanks for the TR. How close to Goldmyer can you drive at the moment with a 4WD high clearance vehicle?

[Kat]

As of Feb 21, no problem whatsoever until just past Goldmyer. Hopefully someone has flattened that second rockslide out since then. Otherwise I'll have to use the dang motorcycle from there.