Trip Report
Day Hike - Stegosaurus Butte
A quick, steep and damp hike up on a Middle Fork day hike rarity.
Neal Stein
- Sun, Dec 10, 2023
- Day Hike - Stegosaurus Butte
- Stegosaurus Butte
- Day Hiking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Middle Fork Road is clear up until about a mile shy of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trailhead, where we encountered slush and snow, although it was getting much closer to the latter by the time we left around noon. It may all melt away soon.
The boot path (because it's barely a trail) is half a mess and half just fine right now. Lower sections take on the properties of a small stream, while the top of the peak has 4-6 inches of wet snow. The steep sections are currently clear but I would not expect this to hold for long.
One item of note: the trail has a large steel cable left over from the logging days of yore. It has an exposed end that looks pretty poky. Be advised.
We gathered at the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trailhead at 9AM and were on trail by 9:20. Almost immediately after crossing the iconic Gateway suspension bridge and taking our right turn we encountered a fallen tree to navigate. I am tempted to add a handsaw to my winter hiking gear!
After negotiating the blowdown we came to the bootpath intersection although it has a couple small logs blocking it off. Perhaps these are to keep the uninitiated away, but for us it was time to start heading uphill! We quickly discovered that this also meant upstream, as the trail was more of a creek at this point.
We encountered minor amounts of snow until about 2000 feet elevation where it increased rather suddenly to about 6 inches. Thankfully our steep hike was over and traveling in the wet snow was not problematic.
After some easy slogging we reached the summit area, where my phone decided to take a Portrait style photo and blurred everyone else out. Oops.
We did get a few peeks at Garfield and the Pulpit, albeit through foggy low clouds and hazy drizzle. Altogether an enjoyable hike though, and even the weather cooperated just enough.
Descending was slow and methodical as one might expect to avoid slipping. Most of the party had donned microspikes at this point, which was more helpful with the damp loam and slippery roots than the actual snow.