My birthday today, 62 years old, so the Iron Goat trail seems appropriate, at least the goat part. Have wanted to do this trail for some time but an article in today's ""Everett Herald"" sealed our fate for the day. Also, Wise Mule's recent report on this trail was very helpful and encouraging, especially about starting at the Wellington end of the trail.

The newspaper article explained that work on the trail started in the late 80's (Ruth Ittner has been the ""driving force"") and that thousands of volunteers * have put 65,000 hours into the trail. That's over 30 man-years at 40 hours a week...

We started being impressed even as we drove into the parking lot for the Wellington trail head. (** See directions below). Lots of parking, new rest rooms, board with map, placards with historical notes.

* Work on this trail is done by the Volunteers for Outdoor Washington. It is estimated that the total cost of this trail will be approx $3 million by the time it is completed in 2005. There is a website: www.irongoat.org

** Directions to Wellington trailhead: on US 2, look for Old Cascade Hwy sign on north side of the highway, just below Stevens Pass Summit, on west side. Go 2.8 miles and turn right on USFS Road #050 and proceed to the trailhead. If you are traveling east on US 2, good idea to (due to limited sight distance) go to the summit, turn around and go back down.

We headed towards Windy Point Tunnel and were duly impressed with the trail work and especially with the bridges and culvert work. Serious bridges! The amount of work done and its quality is outstanding - well done! The trail is like a walk in the park.

The first part of the trail is thru an all concrete snow shed (1/2 mile), and then mostly in the open for over a mile. Then into the woods. Brilliant sunshine made for a warm day but eventually, we were hit with a very cool breeze, as if from a tunnel. Sure enough, another 75 ft and we were in front of Windy Point Tunnel. As this was our goal, we didn't go down the tunnel; also the trail was blocked off and a sign was posted: ""Extreme Hazard from Falling Objects"".

Another impressive feature of this trail is the variety of wildflowers: bunchberry, shooting stars, columbines, blue bells, violets, paintbrush, vanilla leaf, fireweed, skunk cabbage, daisies, wild roses, salmonberry, and more that I hadn't seen for a while and couldn't identify (took picures though to do this).

A wonderful day, great experience. About 5.5 miles round trip, very little elevation gain or loss (this is a railroad grade, after all). A few bugs but not a ""problem"". Lots of history well explained and interesting artifacts on the trail.

Two Foxes

Iron Goat Trail Fathers Day 2001. A friend invited me to join he and his son on a hike on the Iron Goat trail. I felt very honored to join them on their day. Having never been on this trail I didn't know what to expect. It was one of the most interesting trails I have ever gone on to date. We started at the lower end which is accessed by the old Stevens Hwy. There are good signs off of Hwy 2. The day was very pleasant and we expected lot's of hikers. When we arrived at the trailhead about 9 am, there was only one other vehicle in the lot. We started up the only real incline of the entire trail to the first of many descriptive placards. There was a collapsed snow shed where the trail leveled off. Most of the huge timbers that were used on the railroad were salvaged when they dismantled the track but these were too far decayed so they were left. We saw old metal flumes for the water drainage and train usage. It seems fires were a big problem as well as avalanches after they raped the hillside of all vegetation. Not very far along you can begin to the see the series of cement walls they built to hold up the hillside and secure the snow sheds. The wall pretty much follows the entire 6 miles of the trail. There were artifacts laying along the trail as well as spikes seemingly growing in the mosses along the way. It is wonderful that these relics of old can be left laying and no one disturbs them. There were lot's of wildflowers blooming all along the trail. I noticed several people with flower books in hand. We also went through a tunnel that was 1/4 mile long. I good flashlight is recommended but not absolute since you can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel from the beginning. The trail has little elevation gain after the first 100 ft or so. We had planned to go the entire 6 miles and then come back the same way. The charming father I was with struck up a conversation with 4 ladies coming the opposite way and soon we had taken there car keys and were to drive there car down to the other end. What nice and trusting folks. It must have been the honest looking young man we had with us. At any rate we were very grateful. Thank you Mary Ellen and gang! Near the end is the sight of the avalanche that killed 96 people back at the turn of the century. There are several placards that have pictures and tell stories of the event. About this same time we entered a covered double cement snow shed that is hard to describe unless you see it. It was a great source of interest to all there. The trail ends at the location of the old town of Wellington which is pretty much gone. Pictures at the trailhead show you where the buildings were and so forth. There are still ruins of the old water tower and coal shed. A short walk past the parking lot takes you to the first tunnel they built. The trail was in great shape. Having read about the trail a few years ago I know that VOW did a great deal of the work. It was finished last fall and what a great job they did. Now I regret not having volunteered to help punch it through. This would be a great hike for families and older folks who don't want to climb. Starting at the upper end you could see a lot in a couple of miles and no elevation gain.

There's only a bit of snow on the trail, and that was seemed to be mostly from a recent snowfall. Places that normally have enormous piles of snow at this time of year are completely free of snow.

Trilliums (trillia') are out in abundance, as are yellow violets and bleeding hearts. Many trees and shrubs have barely started setting out leaves along this trail.

Very few people on this trail today.

Hiked as far as just short of Windy Point and the trail has 1-6 inches of snow on it, depending on terrain and tree cover. Still easily hikeable, although will be getting really muddy soon. No obstacles. No sign of avalanche debris.