The New Pratt Trail

The new Pratt Valley trail, which will connect from the Wilderness Gateway Bridge at the Middle Fork Trailhead, is going in. The WTA has sign ups to help if you would like to contribute to this work:

http://www.wta.org/volunteer/trail-work-parties

The Road is Really Open (ignore the signs)

It really puzzles me why these two signs are on the Middle Fork Road because it is open for 12.5 miles (to the Taylor River Trail, the road to Dingford is gated). Here is my theory:

Yellow Sign: This is the county and is referring to the upper road that is washed out. The lower road is actually the Lake Dorothy Road.

White Sign: The distance refers to the distance to the gate at the USFS boundary that was put there when they were doing work on the Taylor River bridge (that gate is most definitely open). My guess is that this sign was put up by DNR (they own the land at Mailbox Peak) and either just haven't taken it down or would like to think the road is closed (so that all of Washington will only use the Mt. Si trail).

Pratt Valley Hiking, Now's the Time!

One of these days the USFS is going to put in the new Pratt Valley access trail from the Middle Fork Trailhead. In some ways that will be nice, in others we will lose a bit of a hidden gem. If you want to go into the Pratt while it is still "wild", I have created a fairly extensive set of instructions starting with this page:

http://www.middleforkgiants.com/Hike%20Pratt%20Valley.html

You will note there are four pages on the Pratt with different ways to get there and some things to see while you are there. There is certainly more, so look around. The Pratt does not give up her secrets easily!

With the low water, this might be a good year to go in there. So give it a try, haven't you always wanted to see the Pratt?

Middle Fork Road is open and in good shape

The Middle Fork Road is open all the way over the Taylor River to the trailhead. There is still a gate at the road to Dingford Creek. The 12.5 miles of road to there is in pretty good shape and may have even been graded.

If you want to bike the Middle Fork/CCC Road loop, it's in great shape as well. Not much water so the streams are either dry or easy crossings.

Yes, I know there are some signs that say "Road Closed" or "Road Closed in XX miles". Not sure who amongst the many agencies involved forgot to take them down. My guess, though, is it is not the USFS. Quite frankly, they seem to really care and are doing their best to make the Middle Fork a great place to go.

Go to the Middle Fork!!!

2010 is THE YEAR for MiddleForkGiants

2010 is going to be a very exciting year with the release of Dreams in the Wilderness: Stories from the Middle Fork (a documentary film) and The Middle Fork: Finding Significance in a Forested Valley (a book). In preparation for those big events, I am completely updating the website. This is a good time to look around and more "new" will be there over the next couple of months.

www.middleforkgiants.com

Road Open for 12.5 miles (not 5.2)!!!!

It's the perfect after Christmas place to go! The Middle Fork Road is open all the way to the Dingford Road. You can access the Middle Fork Trailhead, the Campground, and the Taylor River Trailhead. The picture above shows the new gate.

Ignore the sign that says "Road Closed in 5.2 miles", it's really open for over 10.

The Gate is Open!!!

The gate is finally open at the Forest Service Boundary. You can get at least as far as the Middle Fork Trailhead and across the Taylor River. There is still a sign by the Mailbox Peak trailhead that says "road closed 5.2 miles" but the gate was open all last week including the weekend.

In spite of any frustrations I might have over the road being closed I would have to commend the Forest Service for repairing the road, the bridge over the Taylor, and the new bridge just past the boundary (no more saying "this sure is a ratty little bridge, I wonder why it never washes out?").