Judy Bentley

As I was finishing Hiking Washington’s History, I learned about the Lime Kiln Trail, a relatively new trail that follows portions of the old Everett and Monte Cristo Railway grade. The Old Robe Canyon hike in the book follows the South Fork Stillaguamish River on the north bank as the river flows west.  The Lime Kiln Trail starts south of the river and joins it after a mile and a half, going east along the south bank of the river to the concrete remains of a bridge that once crossed the river.   Engineers warned early on that the force of the river would wash out man-made structures.

Yes, there is a lime kiln on this trail–quite impressive on site.

During the 1800s, the kiln converted limestone into lime (calcium oxide) to make mortar and plaster for construction, including parts of the Everett & Monte Cristo Railway. Limestone from a nearby quarry was carried to the top of the kiln by small cable cars and burned in the kiln to change the rock to powder. Interpretive panels at the trailhead give the history of the railway and the lime kiln.  Artifacts along the way (pieces of rotary saw blades, bricks, a bucket) tell a visual story.

This is a 3.5 mile trail, one-way, fairly level (600 some feet of elevation gain, gained in several places) and hikable year-round. (In mid-May 2016 the salmonberries were already ripe.)  The first part follows a logging road through regrowing clear cuts but then reaches the old railroad grade and canyon.

Directions: Take State Route 92 east to Granite Falls. In town, turn right on South Granite Avenue. In three blocks, go left on Pioneer Street, which becomes Menzel Lake Road. In a few miles, go left on Waite Mill Road to the signed trailhead on the left.

When the Press Expedition men hauled their gear up the Elwha River in the winter of 1889 and 1890, the river was wild.  When I hiked it and wrote about it more than 100 years later, the river was dammed and contained, the Altaire campground was good for a pre-hike wiener roast, and the Whiskey Bend trailhead was an easy drive.  No more.  The river has been un-dammed and unleashed to choose its own path, which has included flooding the road to the trailhead and the Altaire campground.  You may now have more sympathy for the six men, four dogs, and two mules who spent two and a half months just getting to Whiskey Bend from Port Angeles.  (This hike is described in Hiking Washington’s History.) 

Linda Mapes describes “A river gone wild” and its effects on hikers in The Seattle Times, March 13, 2016.

Yakima Pass has become one of my favorite historical hikes.  The first part is delightful–to Cottonwood Lake and Mirror Lake and then south on the Pacific Crest Trail to Yakima Pass.  It is rich in Native American and railroad exploration history, narrated by George McClellan’s journals.

In late July, on a sunny day, you’ll find bear grass, columbine, glacier lily, trillium, lupine, blue skies, and sparkling lakes. Frogs claim rocks in the creek that cascades down from Mirror Lake. Even as trees grow again in the clearcut areas, the lay of the land and the pass visible from the lakes remain the same.  You’ll know you’ve reached the pass by the feel of the land and the weathered sign that marks it.

If you don’t want to climb back up to Mirror Lake, on the PCT, there is a short-cut back to Road 5480 (and your parked car) on two gullied old logging roads, which are easy enough to follow, but be forewarned that the footing can be tricky–rocky, slippery and overgrown.  When I first used this loop I could catch a glimpse of my car from this route, but now vegetation has grown obscuring that view–but not the lovely view of Lost Lake.

The hike has not changed greatly since I recounted it in Hiking Washington’s History, but here are a few clarifications: when driving to the trailhead, at the unmarked four-way intersection, veer right along the north side of Lost Lake (don’t take the sharp right). The last half-mile up to the trailhead is completely un-drivable, and parking spots on Road 5480 can be competitive on the weekend.  Although a sign points uphill to the Mirror Lake trailhead, the beginning of the trail itself is not marked by a sign but by a cairn or row of rocks, thoughtfully placed.

My Tuesday Trekkers group hiked the Coal Mines Trail in June 2014.  Since I wrote Hiking Washington’s History, the trail has become much more shaded by the growth of trees and brush on both sides.  Mining sites are harder to identify in the first two-thirds of the trail, but heaping  slag piles still rise above mine sites and Crystal Creek flows coolly along the walk.  Roslyn’s coal mining history is not forgotten by residents but seems less prominent.  The Northwest Improvement Company store building will reopen soon with new businesses.  The spire of the Catholic church soars above the town on the hillside, and the Roslyn cemeteries grow, including a memorial for Tom Cravens, native son who died fighting the Thirty-Mile Fire.

In late August 2015 I was biking along the Duwamish/Green River Trail and noticed earth-pushers at work across the river where the Carosino farmhouse used to be.  The Carosinos were among the Italian truck farmers who first settled along the Duwamish in the late 1800s and eventually raised corn, pumpkins, radishes, and other vegetables to sell at the Pike Place Market.  The farmhouse had stood along the path of Sound Transit light rail but survived that construction.  Where had it gone?

My query to the city of Tukwila, which had bought the property, brought the somewhat reassuring response that the site is being developed as an off-channel salmon habitat project called Duwamish Gardens.  At this point in their journey down the Duwamish, fish are transitioning from fresh water to salt water.  This channel will give them a place to feed and rest, not a bad use for a former vegetable farm.