The drive out is mostly good. I took my Honda Civic, but in hindsight, I should've taken the 4x4 w/ higher clearance. I made it, but there were some mudholes on the last mile that gave me pause...and a few scrapes.
This hike begins at a log landing, and heads downhill on a road that is returning to forest that was clearcut in the 70's. Some sections are quite nice, though.
There were also some recent vehicle tracks that unexplicably drove down the first part of the "trail" through some very large waterbars and even over some down trees. Not sure why, but you can't fix stupid.
After about 1/2 mile, you come to the Wilderness boundary, and the sign.
The trail continues through alder and bigleaf maple forest and you can hear the rushing water of Eagle Creek not too far below.
some remnants of a wasp/bees nest, right on the trail
Nice cedar and doug fir bottomlands
Alot of fungus was encountered out here
including these strange, large, bright orange mushrooms that were everywhere
About 3.5 miles in we passed a nice campsite on the creek
The water was running clear and cold and the weather was still holding out nicely.
There were several nurse logs w/ rather large trees growing from them. It's always cool to see that. Here's a nurse log covered in oxalis:
Typical trail/creekside viewing
Unbelievably we had some sun breaks as we neared the 6.5 mile mark
I loved looking up the misty green creek canyon, transporting me back to a time before humans even walked the earth
Perhaps that is what downtown Portland used to look like? Who knows.
There's a beautiful little side creek joining the mainline about 7.2 miles in.
Bracket fungus family
As we continued on, pushing through some salmonberry stalks and some blackberry vines, we came to a section where the trail rides right along the creek. It certainly would be a wade in times of high water?
Abruptly at 7.7 miles the trail hangs a sharp right at this sign and approaches the water
You need to ford to continue up the trail, as it climbs steeply to intersect the Old Baldy Trail (#502). My friend Ned Jones and I hiked/biked to the other end of this trail back in May, from the Fanton trail.
The ford marked the turnaround point for our hike, so we took a break and ate some lunch. As we snacked and talked, out of the corner of my eye, a squirrel appeared. He ran along the log I was sitting on and charged towards me! Brad mouthed the words, "Look out!" in super slo-mo and I turned my head as it mock charged me...then it launched itself into the weeds before it could gnaw my face off. He must've sensed that I had some spicy Planters peanuts in my pack. Geez. I need to keep the squirrel spray handy.
Another minute or two and the mix of sun and clouds turned to steel gray, and the rain began to fall. Soon it became a steady downpour, and we began the 7.7 mile slog back towards the car. Figures! Still, tt was a mostly pleasant, if brisk walk back the way we came, noticing the minute details we missed along the way. Bugs, fungus, crazy big trees, etc.
Lovely green carpets
Brad's big red umbrella
A hollow log for Chase
*disclaimer: it probably doesn't count b/c it's not hollow all the way through
We never saw another soul all day. It was good to get out, on a day where most people were probably shopping or watching TV. Shoes are still drying, however.
Here's a video of our "other" Eagle Creek:
https://youtu.be/ws6je_9hS0E
Hike stats:
15.4 miles
1700' eg
It looked and sounded pretty terrible.
The nurse logs are awesome. You gotta watch out for those squirrels 
That road is nasty at the end!