Hiking to Noble Knob

We attempted to hike up to Noble Knob yesterday only to run into snow at 4400ft. It was a beautiful day for a hike on June 4th 2011 as it was the first really warm day of the year.


We crossed this creek early on in the hike which was beautiful as the sun peaked through the trees and shined on the water.

We were not able to make it to the trailhead which is at the end of Forest Service Road 7174 (FS7174) off of Hwy 410 which is past Greenwater on the left heading toward Crystal Mountain from Enumclaw. The gate was closed on this road not allowing us to drive all the way up to the trailhead. Apparently the road does not open until the snow melt so who knows when that will be. It was such a long winter this year and the mountains got record snowfall.

So we parked at the gate and hiked the trail that starts right there. When we came to a fork that came up quickly on the hike, we ventured off to the right. It took us to a bridge that crossed the stream and then we came upon a sign that directed us to the right and uphill. It was a pretty grueling ascent and good workout. We passed about three spots that offered some views of the foothills and valley. We stopped at one on the way down to have lunch and enjoy the sun and scenery.


We were disappointed that we never made it to a spectacular view at the top, but it was so nice to get out in the mountains and get some good exercise. It was a good but tough practice hike for the beginning of the season.

We did see some hikers with snowshoes on their backpacks and apparently they felt confident with a map and GPS. I suppose a person could make it up to Noble Knob this time of year even through the snow, but we didn't want to chance it. We ran into the snow about 3 1/2 miles in.

There were some photo opps along the way on this hike especially along the small river.
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