Forum Index > Trip Reports > Middle Fork trail to Dutch Miller Gap trail [April 28-29, 2023]
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jsb
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jsb
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PostFri May 05, 2023 8:53 am 
long time lurker, first TR ---- Took the day off work this past Friday to get out and enjoy the first clear and warm weekend of 2023. Parked at Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trailhead on Friday at 6am - there were only about three other cars parked at the time. My plan was to hike up to Williams Lake via the Middle Fork trail and the Dutch Miller Gap trail (~21 miles one way), camp up there for the night, and then head back the same route in the morning. The Middle Fork trail was great on the way out. Creek crossings were very manageable, blowdowns had enough prior traffic that it was easy to figure out how to get through them, and I had the trail all to myself.
Got to Burntboot Creek at 10am and realized I skipped a bit of research before heading out - the creek was already pretty high and it wasn't clear where to safely cross. I surveyed about 50 yards up and down the river before figuring the logs across to the Goldmyer Hot Springs sign connected just enough to support a wet but safe crossing. I went back and checked the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River gauge at Tanner - it was reading 5.00ft at this time. After getting across the creek, I took a bit of a break on the Goldmyer side before heading out to the Dutch Miller Gap trail. On the way, I ran into a spraying pipe and small rock pool on the left side of the trail. I figured it was some left-behind pump operation, but after reading this post, I learned that it's actually a spring.
Stopped for lunch at Nellie Falls just after noon. I wasn't able to find a clear path down to the river, so I scrambled down the hillside onto the rocks just above the falls. I probably stayed more dry here, but part of me wishes I would have walked down the bottom of the falls to see the cascade from that perspective. Regardless, the water was really moving and falls felt powerful.
On to the hard part. I hit consistent snow once got onto the Dutch Miller Gap trail. I slogged and postholed until about a half mile past the Hardscrabble horse camp before I finally stopped, strapped my snowshoes on, and added snow baskets to my poles. Should have done this a mile earlier. For next two hours (1:30 - 3:30pm), I struggled with route finding (there were only feint snowshoes tracks from a previous party), tricky creek crossings, and general fatigue. I had to take my snowshoes off to cross an icy log at 3,350ft and was simply unable to find a safe way to cross the next creek just 100 yards further along the trail.
At this point, it was 3:30pm, I still had 4 miles and 1.5k vert before Williams Lake, and I was only moving about a mile an hour. I resolved to turn around and set up camp in a little meadow along the Middle Fork about 1.5 miles back.
I'm not sure what kind of terrain is under the snow here, but for a snow camping spot, this one is tough to beat. Great views of Burntboot Peak and reasonable access to get water out of a slow, meandering section of the Middle Fork. I shut my eyes at 6pm, only to be awoken a couple minutes later when an avalanche ripped down the east side of the valley about 500 yards upstream. I was a little concerned that I was camped in a bad spot - but too tired to do anything about it at that point. Out of the wind, it wasn't too cold and I managed to get a decent night of backcountry sleep.
Woke up at 5am, made some coffee, broke camp, and was back on the trail at 6am. As an out and back trip, the hike back was pretty uninspiring outside of one bit - the return crossing of Burntboot Creek. By the time I got to the creek (8:30am), the log crossing's middle log was completely covered with rushing water and unsafe to use. I had to decide whether to cross somewhere else - or just head back along the Dutch Miller Gap trail on the north side of the river (at least until the bridge at Dingford Creek). I settled on crossing downstream in a section of the creek that seemed wider and lower. While I made it across alive, I did slip and take a bit of a swim and things could have gone much worse. I bushwhacked back to the Middle Fork trail and changed into some dry clothes.
The final 11 miles back to the car were mostly consumed by own ruminations about getting worked by this trip. The views of Garfield Mountain made the last stretches more enjoyable. I finished up just before 1pm.
Looking forward to making it all the way to Williams Lake once the trail is substantially more melted out - or when I get my fitness up. Also looking forward to following this trip report and scrambling up Burntbook Peak. ----

Roly Poly, jaysway, The Ghost of Bear 380, wallorcrawl, John Mac, Fedor, zeldathewelder, Bramble_Scramble, zimmertr, neek, Now I Fly, JimK
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Now I Fly
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PostFri May 05, 2023 9:29 am 
jsb wrote:
I did slip and take a bit of a swim
Sounds like a fun trip, except for the swim bit! Well done on getting out! smile.gif

jsb
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NWtrax
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PostFri May 05, 2023 11:56 am 
Good spring adventure! Thanks for sharing.

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MangyMarmot
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PostFri May 05, 2023 12:22 pm 
Nice trip. How was the road to the trailhead? Would a 2wd van make it?

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jsb
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jsb
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PostFri May 05, 2023 12:45 pm 
MangyMarmot wrote:
Nice trip. How was the road to the trailhead? Would a 2wd van make it?
I used the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trailhead. Paved all the way there so, this time of year, any car would make it.

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Forum Index > Trip Reports > Middle Fork trail to Dutch Miller Gap trail [April 28-29, 2023]
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