The plan was to get up early and head out to climb South Mt. Bessemeer which had defeated me with the help of some snow a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, we got a rather late start so it was almost noon by the time we left the house to head to the trail.
Instead of Bessemeer we decided to tackle another hike that snow had blocked completion of: Quartz Creek to Lake Blethen. Thanks to a wacky warm front sitting on the Puget Sound the snow level is up around 10,000 feet, but that just meant it'd be raining warm rain in the lowlands.
The trail starts at the Taylor River trailhead at the end of the Middle Fork road. The road is in great shape right now since it was just recently regraded. The Forest Service is looking at paving it and making a bunch of other changes in the Middle Fork valley so if you want to see it the way it is now (for good and bad) go sooner rather than later.
After only half a mile on the Taylor River trail the Quartz Creek trail comes in from the left. To say either is a trail is a bit misleading. They're both old logging roads which have been left to return to nature, but it doesn't look like it was all that long ago that the Quartz Creek trail was driven on so it's got a ways to go.
The trail climbs along Quartz Creek which you can usually hear, but rarely see buried in the woods. There are few views from the trail until you get to the first switchback which gives you a chance to look across the valley at Quartz Mountain. The trail switches twice more before coming to a washed out bridge on an unnamed creek.
Vertigo is not your friend when crossing the rotting logs, but Tokul was able to scamper across with little concern and even came back to see what was taking me so long. The second failing bridge is just a bit further, but the drop from the log is less than the first (perhaps 30 feet) and I had confidence I wouldn't die since I'd already crossed the first bridge.
Shortly after the bridges the road actually does become a trail which is badly overgrown. It crosses another overflowing stream which requires use of a rope someone has strung across the 45-degree incline.
After this last crossing the trail enters some older-growth forest and ends up at about 3,100 feet at Lake Blethen. As I stood on the lake shore the rain stopped and the sun burst through to illuminate the trees on the far shore from behind which made for a spectacular picture... or would have if I'd been able to find the camera before leaving. Argh. (Never fear, Amy found it after we'd both returned home for the evening.)
Upper Lake Blethen was only another half mile and 700 feet, but I was concerned about getting back before it got dark and/or I drowned. As Tokul and I headed down the trail it started raining again and I regretted leaving the lake and its apparent immunity.
There are a couple of good campsites near the lake so it would make for a great, short overnighter at only five miles each way.
