[Karen]

The Fuller Mountain trail is in very poor shape and becoming more of a scramble than a hike. The rock cairn that used to mark the start of the trail is gone -- a pink flag remains to assist those wanting to hike up there but it's much more challenging than it used to be. My sense is that very few people use this trail anymore and if it does not get some traffic on it, it's going to be a "goner" within a year or two. It's a mess. The summit view is worth the effort but if you go up there, take care -- it's all too easy to get turned around on the summit and on short winter days, you can't afford to make mistakes. Still, it was fun -- it's a good workout for the muscles that will get used in scrambles to come and it just felt good to be outside in the fresh air. The Ten Mile Creek loop near Gate 10 is worth a side-trip. I had never done the whole loop before -- it's very pretty and Ten Mile Creek looks more like a pond in places than a creek. The bridge -- such as it is -- is still standing. Somewhat shakily but standing. Karen

Fuller Mountain summit view

Descending Fuller Mt

[lopper]

April of '73. Looking over towards Si from the top of Fuller Mtn. We got turned around by active avalanche chutes on McClain. No worries on Fuller.

fuller

[Maarten]

Karen, I hiked Fuller Mountain today, inspired by an old copy of Footsore and your article in the P-I (nearly a year ago now, but found via Google). There's no bridge across Ten Creek anymore--unless I tried to cross in the wrong place. I went in the Ten Creek Loop trail, and where the loop goes left (WeyCo sign on tree, "Red Alder") I went straight/right down to the creek, and found only four logs, with a 3-foot gap full of cold water to leap. Yay for Gore-tex boots! (I made it across and back OK using a fallen branch as a support, but don't recommend that anyone else try this. The second trail head for the trail up the mountain was completely unmarked: no cairn, no ribbon, nothing. I left a 3-rock cairn, but have to wonder why ribbons would disappear. Once I found the trail, I had no trouble following it, but it had been used the day prior, evidenced by a note left in the geocache at the summit which I happened to see stashed in a hollow tree. If you're out for views, it's not really a worthwhile climb, IMO. There are some westward views where the trail crosses scree/boulder fields, but no panoramic views from the summit--at best bits and peeks between trees. I had no trouble staying oriented on the summit, but it'd be nice if there was an indication where the trail is for those who come up a different way. There are plenty of tape/ribbon bits up there, but they were either left by bushwackers or serve a different purpose altogether. There was a dusting of snow on the summit, but none on the trail. On the way back, I tried to complete the Ten Creek Loop, but it seemed to peter out and I was tired of bushwacking, having done plenty of that on my creative way up Fuller.

Ten Creek crossing on the way to Fuller Mtn.

[evergreenhiker]

Sure it wasn't a letterbox? I'm not aware of a geocache being up on Fuller, unless it's via the other geocaching site Navicache. I have a couple of boxes out in that area...one takes you to a little lake that could really use a Trash out exercise and the other takes you to a very nice viewpoint. Both can be reached via the mainline.

[Maarten]

[hikerjo]

Thanks for the report and trail decriptions. This one is on my to do. I hope to do it in the next couple of weeks.

[Maarten]

After I posted, I found another trip report here that closely resembles my experience.

[evergreenhiker]

[moosefish]

[Maarten]

Since we couldn't get to Sunday Creek/Sunday Lake, yesterday we stopped at Spur 10 and went up Fuller Mtn instead. There's a PERFECTLY good bridge across Ten Creek that I must have missed the first time there two years ago. It's easy to miss: when you're looking at the old crossing, it's on your right, behind a rise. Huge tree trunk, top planed flat, with a rope handrail. Easy, easy crossing. Last time I saw metal tree blazes, this time I could not find any. It appears that the Green River College folks have decided that they're not proud anymore of the trail they built, and took 'em down? As I was hiking I couldn't help thinking snarky thoughts like "Apparently they don't have any classes in trail maintenance ". It's a tricky trail with all the leaves and loose material. Couldn't find the "mailbox"/"summit register" at the top this time. Pics below of the bridge and the state of the trail.

Bridge

Yes, that's the trail.

[moosefish]

[Maarten]

According to signs, the bridge across Sunday Creek is closed. Must have been damaged; I didn't go investigate since there's a big ROAD CLOSED sign at the Spur 10 intersection and my hiking partner isn't as gung ho for exploration. I heard that the bridge is passable by hikers and motos. King County lists it as closed for repairs. http://www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/roads/roadalert/