[H. Hound]

Hardscrabble Lakes 07-20-03 I went into Hardscrabble lakes today. There is a rough trail that goes most of the way. The “trail head” starts by the huge blow down about ¼ mile before the Dutch Miller trail head, on the M. Fork Snoq road. There is an old logging road that is the trail. It is quite over grown, but there is a brushy, passable trail that can be followed with some common sense. I lost the trail shortly before the lake, and ended up bushwhacking the rest of the way (so much for common sense). The lower lake was nice, but crowded. There were 3 groups camping there. I circled around the left shore, and went up to the upper lake. There was nobody at the upper lake; it was really nice, except for the bugs. I still wanted to go farther, and was wondering what the USMM notation on my map meant, so up to the ridge I went. It must mean something about minerals. There is evidence of people breaking rocks for crystals. I found several small ones, and some nice rock samples. Attached is a view up the M. Fork Snoqualmie. Bye - KN

USMM2

[Hiker Chick]

What a beautiful picture ~

[RandyB]

USMM - the "MM" stands for mineral marker if I'm not mistaken.

[lopper]

Thanks for posting the photo! An unusual perspective of the Upper MFK. Also tks for adding info about one of my MFK "unknowns". I've wondered for some time what that "USMM" was all about. Looking over from Burntboot a few years ago, we noticed how light-colored and barren that ridgetop looked compared to others nearby. Now I've got a better excuse for a trip up there.