Trip Reports

There is a large avalanche full of downed trees blocking the lower trail about 0.5 miles west of the Windy Point crossover. It is rather nasty and the snow is getting thin in spots making it dangerous.

Other than that the trail is great, lots of tiger lilies, penstamen and columbine.

Decided to do a loop hike on the Iron Goat Trail starting from the Scenic Trail Head off of Highway 2. The new trailhead has restrooms, and a Great Northern Railway caboose on display. I went up the lower railroad grade trail to the junction with the Windy Point crossover trail. This trail switchbacks up the side on the mountain for 1 mile where it connects to the upper railroad grade trail. I hiked over to the Windy Point overlook and the east portal of the double track tunnel. After a snack I started down grade to the Martin Creek Trailhead seeing all of the interesting historical places along the way. I first hiked this section of the trail 33 years ago in 1975 long before the good trail was built. I had not been down the section of the trail from Martin Creek to Scenic, so I had new things to see. The Twin Tunnels is an interesting area. The tunnels built in the fall of 1916 replaced steel railroad bridge #402 which was wiped out in a avalanche on January 22, 1916. The new trail truss bridge uses the up grade cement concrete bridge abutment from the original railroad bridge. Further down the trail is a large avalanche debris field from this past winter. It is covering the trail with trees and snow about 20 feet deep and 200 feet wide. Adults can get over it, but not recommended for small children. It is located about 200 yards up grade from the end of the cement concrete back retaining wall of the old snow shed. There is a smaller pile on the upper trail above this location. Makes for a nice loop hike of about 7 1/2 miles. The last regular Great Northern Railway train came through on Jan. 12, 1929 and then starting using the new 8 mile tunnel. It is amazing to think that where the Iron Goat Trail is now, that the railroad grade, tunnels, snowsheds and bridges were built in the day of no computers or even a calculator. For some interesting photographs of this trail area, see the book, ""The Great Northern Railway, A Pictorial Study"" by Charles and Dorothy Wood, published by Pacific Fast Mail in 1979.

The Iron Goat Loop from Scenic up the cutoff to Windy Point, down to Martin Creek and back to Scenic was the perfect, easy Father's Day outing. The trail was clear all the way except for one tree you had to squeeze under or go over and around on the Windy Point cutoff, one large avalanche full over broken trees crossing the trail on the traverse from Windy Point to Martin Creek, and another even bigger mound of avalanche debris not far from the Scenic trailhead coming from Martin Creek. Some parties turned around at the avalanche debris, but we climbed over. It's not too hard now. The branches and needles keep the footing from being really slippery, and the packed snow underneath gives you something relatively solid to stand on. But I imagine it'll be tough to pass over once the snow melts. It will also take a big work crew to clear. Other than the avalanche debris, there were only a few tiny snow patches next to the trail near Windy Point. Trilliums, miner's lettuce, salmonberry, flowering red currant, and skunk cabbage were all in bloom, and we saw Calypso orchids, too. The historical plaques were, as always, great, as were the remains of tunnels, snowsheds, and other artifacts from the railroad days of 80+ years ago.

I started the hike from the Windy Point trailhead and headed up the swithcbacks to the railroad grade. Volunteers were active on the trail and it was in great shape up the switchbacks and east to Windy Point.

From there I continued on east in an attempt to get to Wellington. About 0.4 miles east of Windy Point, I started to hit snow and pretty soon it was solid snow about 1-2 feet deep. The hiking wasn't too tough, but I kept breaking through areas where streams were running under the snow. I turned around and headed back to the trailhead.

I then attempted to drive to the top and come down Tye Rd to Wellington but that was blocked by 3-4 feet of snow right at the top of the road. Guess we'll have to wait a few more weeks before trying to make the full hike.

More information and pictures are available here:

http://studio711.com/cs/blogs/ben/archive/2008/06/16/14861.aspx

On the 98th anniversary of the Wellington avalanche disaster, the Cascade Curmudgeon and I hiked most of the Iron Goat Trail, skipping only the stretch from Windy Point to Wellington. We parked across the street from the Scenic TH in the plowed-out area by the Scenic area cabins, went up to the upper grade along the general route of the switchback that the CC helped construct last summer, went along the upper grade to the Martin Creek TH, and then back along the lower grade to Scenic.

We needed snowshoes the whole time, and actually needed our ice axes in a number of places going from Scenic to the upper grade. There are lots of downed and broken trees and numerous slide areas. The snow was so deep that the tops of the mileposts came only to my waist.

The big news is the climax avalanche that covered about a 250-foot swath of the lower grade near stream 3 that probably came down during the same several days avalanches closed Highway 2. It is about 30-40 feet high, full of timber and debris, and exactly over the area where the IGT volunteers had worked long and hard constructing a bridge. Who knows what condition the bridge is in now, and we probably won't know until June or July. It will take a long time to melt out. We scrambled over the avalanche, and on the other side could see tracks of others who had hiked in from Scenic and turned back. It snowed most of the day. We took our time, so we averaged a mile an hour to hike 6.5 miles.

The Iron Goat trail just west of Stevens Pass has many advantages for the beginning hiker.

First, it is a former railroad grade, therefore, except for accessing the grade, no switchbacks or climbing is involved.

Second, the trail is mostly treed, so it offers shade much of the way.

Third, the regular enormous concrete retaining walls, collapsed tunnels, and snow shelter structural remains all offer a surreal experience. Watching nature slowly reclaim the area could remind one of temples in jungles.

Fourth, the occasional vistas of the Stevens Pass valley, especially from the Windy Point at the 3 mile mark (pictured) are outstanding.

The stretch of the trail is around six miles, but we hiked from the West end parking lot to the midpoint (Windy point) and then returned. One could hike around six miles to east end if you could get your car to wait for you there. I do wonder if the east half of the trail might not offer better views but less shade. Maybe next time we’ll find out. I do know that the eastern half contains this image from WTA website:

http://tinyurl.com/yr4unl

The trail near Windy Point also features a rather scenic open-air toilet for the exhibitionists among the readers.

This trail required the $5 trail pass as do most trailheads in national forests. These passes can usually be picked up at nearby gas stations.

The map offered at the start of the west end of the trail is terrible. A much better one is at:

http://www.irongoat.org/images/IGT2007.pdf

More info at:

http://www.irongoat.org

Someone’s photo account of the trail:

http://www.gngoat.org/iron_goat_trail.htm

Trail in prime condition from Martin Creek to Windy Point. A few snow patches and a blow down to negotiate beyond to Wellington. Minor bridge out below spillway. No big problems.

I packed my rain gear on Saturday morning and headed down Highway 2. I drove up Road 6710 to the Iron Goat Trailhead. There was snow at the trailhead but the road there was easy to drive. As soon as I got out of the car snow started falling from the sky, much nicer than rain. I’ve wanted to check out this trail for a long time but today was my first time. The trail splits from this trailhead, I chose the upper trail. The trail was beautiful in the fresh snow. I took a lot of photos on the way and by the time I reached the second tunnel my camera battery was dead. I turned back there and hope to come back again with snowshoes later this winter.

My first time here I just took a small day hike along the lower grade of the Iron goat via the martin creek trail head to end of the maintained trail nice easy hike beutiful weather but deer flys were bad Its 11:oopm and I am still itching . then I drove up to top of pass and hiked a little way down the wellington trail head inside the snow shed and then back to the cascade tunnel there is such great history there ! The iron goat would be a wonderfull hike for kids cool tunnels and snow sheds great interpretive signs ect ! and a easy hike for senoirs or outa shapers like me ! and the trails nice and wide so its great for dogs too but I still keep shadow leashed in repect to other hikers !

I had originally wanted to do this peak as a winter climb, but then winter decided not to show up. Oh well. As I drove to within view, all the southern slopes were completely bare of snow.

Most folks start out from Hwy 2 near the town of Scenic and begin a direct ascent of the SE ridge, passing over/around the Windy Point Tunnel. I figured I could save myself a few hundred feet of bushwacking (but add a bit of distance) by starting my trip at the Iron Goat TH. Lots of interesting signage, old RR tunnels and history can be found on both the upper and lower grades of this once switchbacking railroad. For this climb, I of course chose to hike the upper grade, which can be reached just a couple hundred feet after starting from the TH (lower grade).

Now note the USGS. While hiking E on the upper grade, you will pass two streams coming down off the mountain side. The second one (angled NNE towards the summit) is where I left the trail. You will know when you get here, as a very large concrete wall spans the drainage. Walk to the E side of this and you'll find a stairwell leading to the top of this wall, and to the spillway once used for firefighting when the RR was active. This spillway is still intact and somewhat interesting to look at. You can begin the ascent from the top of the stairwell, or from the spillway like I did. From the spillway I battled with 40' of devils club before entering the woods on the E side. The woods are brushy, but only very mildly. Just keep the stream to your left until around 3400', where the way shifts a bit and gets on a more defined ridge heading NE. At about 4000' I got out of the woods and into some thigh-high leaf-less shrubbery. It's all pointing downhill, so you'll have to work against the grain. Lots of game trails, bedding areas and sleeping deer were found on this open hillside. The only area I found consistent snow at was the flat area below the summit, where it was up to a couple feet deep. I was only a little impressed with the summit, which is a rocky mound halfway surrounded by trees. It took a little over 2 hrs to reach the top, at a moderate pace.

The descent was fast and easy. I stopped at about 4900' to eat lunch and watch the mile-long trains creep up and down the valley, far below. After that quick break, it was less than 2 hours back to the TH.

The Wellington Train Disaster that occured in this area happened almost 95 years ago. If you are interested I have posted these links that offer goods pics and history of the area. Exploring all the RR areas (both Iron Goat and Wellington) prior to climbing Windy made it a more meaningful experience for me.

http://home1.gte.net/mvmmvm/index.html http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5127 http://www.historylink.org/wellington/overview.htm

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2005 – IRON GOAT TRAIL

Having planned for a cloudy day finally I chose to enjoy a nice long forested hike along the Iron Goat Trail, the historic railroad grade of the Great Northern just west of Stevens Pass. Of course it ended up not only sunny, but much warmer than I ever thought. It was 64 degrees at 3000’ when I left! I took my border collie, Mittens, along and we started hiking from the Martin Creek trailhead on the western end of this great 6-mile long stretch of the historic path of trains by 8:00am. No snow was anywhere, pretty much as expected, and only a few patches of snow were around at the 3100’ region near Wellington on the eastern end of the trail. This really is a neat trek to take and you can just feel the history behind the areas there. The tunnels were so photogenic, the piles of old rotted wood from the 90 year old now collapsed snow sheds lined much of the way, and the views are pretty nice also looking out from Windy Point at the creek valleys leading up to Surprise Lake and up Deception Creek. It was equally as fun to have a list of blooming flowers for it being March 8 at this elevation: Skunk Cabbage was up, bright, and strong smelling in three areas, Salmonberry is blooming, Palmate Coltsfoot was up and blooming, and a few yellow violets as well. Alder and maple trees are just budding out nicely as are other wonderful shrubby items such as Devil’s Club. The complete concrete snow shed at the Wellington end of the trail 5.5 miles from the trailhead was a fun place to call it lunch. The dog was going to have a pretty warm return 6-mile hike back to the truck, and so was I. We enjoyed our down time and after having taken ample photography time on the 6-mile hike in, we made pretty consistent time hiking back out. Six hours after leaving the truck we returned after our 12 mile day was behind us. That may well be the longest hike the wonder-border collie has done with me, and she was rather pleased over the matter too!

NOTE: Last week ticks were seen on my friends pants at 5000’ up Mount Baldy near Easton Ridge….today at 3100’ by the Wellington snow shed where we had lunch, I found a tick on my jacket which was on the ground…and one on Mittens’ nose at the same time. So don’t be fooled thinking no ticks can be around west of the crest…check always, check often this year. Soon we’ll have cactus plants growing in our western Washington yards too, I’m sure J

Alan L. Bauer 03/08/2005

I arrived at the Martin Creek trail head at 10:30 Very flat and easy trail to follow because this is an assessable trail. The trail was in great shape and there were lots of interesting artifacts such as old coils of cabling, shovels, dishes, etc. Reading the informational signs and looking at the crumbling old tunnels and pieces of the snow sheds were quite interesting as well.

There are only a few muddy spots from the rain that happened earlier in the week. Also one log is down and lies across the trail but it is easily gotten over (unless you came because this is an assessable trail.)

As a solo hike, I felt fairly safe on the trail itself. Walking up to the mouth of the abandoned tunnels that are falling apart (but not entering due to the danger of cave-ins) gives this trail an interesting spook factor. On the lower grade, there is a short section of tunnel that can be passed through all the other tunnels have danger signs which I heeded. There are also a few places where I hiked past smaller openings to tunnels that the side of the hill had opened up. A squirrel chirped at me from one and I jumped a mile.

Going to the end of the lower grade of till I hit the closed to the public sign. Then I turned around and went up the Corea crossover to the upper grade where I went another 3 ½ miles. Total miles about 5 with lots of stopping and reading; I left around 3:30

IRON GOAT TRAIL at Stevens Pass

SHORT RPT: cloudy with intermittent light drizzle, trail in good condition, lots of flowers, no bugs, no sun, no people.

LONGER REPORT: We hiked from the upper trailhead down to the Windy Point tunnel and then a 1/2 mile further before lunching and returning. Mid 40's temperatures were cool enough to stay all covered up all day long. The trail starts in the massive concrete snow shed that is visible from the hiway and then alternates between forest and clearings as it drops to Windy Point at a steep railroad grade of 2% (which is almost flat to a hiker). Several other ruined snow sheds are passed enroute. There are several good view points but our views were limited to about a mile or two in clouds. The best flowers were : Columbia lily, Wild ginger, Red and Orange Paintbrush, Mertensia, Columbine, Pink and Yellow Monkeyflower, and Queens Cup. This is a historical trail and much evidence of the Great Northern RR (Goat emblem) is found. Windy Point is about midway between the two trailheads. We were the only people on the eastern half of the trail . See www.irongoat.org for driving directions and interesting historical photos and text.

Stats: 7 miles 300 ft. elev. gain, 4 hours.

Robert Michelson 6-20-03

Read a book about Stevens Pass history and decided to wander through it a bit. This lower section of trail was snow free for the first three miles until it turned eastward, so the going was easy. The grade is a leisurely 1-2% with an even surface; signs are scattered along the route to explain points of interest.

Rusted and crumbling relics of pioneer railroading are everywhere to be found. Two of the three tunnels are partially caved-in and likely hazardous. The Windy Point tunnel is the exception because it was reinforced with concrete.

Despite the warnings posted I advanced into the quarter mile long passsage with my feeble flashlight. This tunnel was cut later and much larger than the others to accomodate proper water drainage, and promote ventilation I suppose, so it seems cavernous. In the middle, where no light is visible from either end of the curving tunnel I paused and turned out the light, mortal darkness all around. One small cave-in near the east end, but it posed no obstacle. The proverbial light of the end of the tunnel was a relief to see. Windy Point provides views down to Scenic and the modern Cascade Tunnel.

Next trip I hope to visit the former site of Wellington (Tye)and contemplate the place where a train was swept down the mountain in the winter of 1912(?).

After giving money to this project 10 years ago- I finally hiked it! What a trail! The work that the Volunteers for Outdoor Washington did on this trail is amazing. A pure pleasure to walk with lots of informative plaques. From the trailhead at Martin Creek to the Wellington Townsite- the trail is just shy of 6 miles long. Only about 500 feet of elevation gain. It won't take you long to do the actual hike-however- all of the great historic points of interests will slow you down. Give yourself lots of time to enjoy this great historical trail. An entire 1/2 mile of the trail travels under a giant concrete snow shed. There was no one out here when I hiked the Goat on this fine late November day. The stark quiet and absence of others made the Wellington avalanche site (where 96 perished in 1910) all the more intriguing. Get here before the snow does!

We hiked the Iron Goat and found the slide reported previously has been cleared out. The trail is very hikable from Martin Creek to Windy Point. Full of flowers. We like to take lunch at the spillway.

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.

Road is open to the Martin Creek Trailhead, with some snow remaining in one parking area and one spot on the road, drivable by passenger cars. The ranger's report, dated 032301, stated there was 6-8 inches of snow there. Not!

There is patchy thin snow before the upper and lower grades split, but even with this early evidence of snow there was absolutely no avalanche piles or debris to skirt around or over as in prior years. Obviously, this snow was pretty recent.

The skunk cabbage is just poking its head above ground, but the trail is essentially matted leaves with some small blowdowns, easily stepped over. There are patches of unconsolidated snow, so we did break through up to our knees for a step or two in a couple of the snow patches. I'm glad I wore low gaiters, but my boots did get wet around the bottom edges. We went as far as Windy Point, but the point lived up to its name and the weather was changing.

Go in a few weeks for the flowers, go now for the solitude. The trail is easily hiked and we saw no one all day, except one person starting up the Martin Creek crossover as we descended.

On our way east to find the sun (partially successful), DAR and I checked out the upper trailhead. Please note the road off the old Stevens Pass Highway is gated and closed for the summer while work continues!

Parking at the gate, we hiked down the gravel road. The trail is great, crossing a nice bridge just before entering the old snowshed. At the far end, the hanging tatters of the roof (cement and rebar, plus trees) almost look like an elephant waiting to greet you.

Behind this point were flowers, flowers and more flowers. Woolly Mullein was the unfamilier one we had to identify later. We picked out the lunch spot on the old road from our February cross country ski trip on our way to the junction with the ""old"" work party access trail.

After a nice talk with the ranger, and lunch in the sun we headed back. The hardest part of the hike is hiking back up the road to the gate.

Lots of violets (in two colors) and bleeding hearts line the trail, with the last of the trillium and a nice patch of calypso orchids.

Trail is snowfree except for two ""humps"" of snow in one of the avalanche chutes, all the way to Windy Point. Despite our late start, DAR and I saw few other parties.

After lunch, I wandered further up the trail to marker 1713. At this point I was in continuous snow, consolidated and easily traveled. I removed some windfall.

I would normally expect to break out of the snow some little ways further, but the soft splat of raindrops made me turn back to my napping friend. Sure enough, he was awake and wondering where I'd disappeared to. Weather wasn't bad at all, but sure not what was forecast.

Iron Goat is ""do-able"" from the Martin Creek TH to the work party access trail. Despite the Skykomish R.S. advising travel beyond Windy Pt Tunnel ""wasn't advised"" due to snow and avalanche danger, we found the route fine. Minor snow patches, waterfall sprays and the calypso orchids marked the route to lunch at Windy Pt. Beyond there the trail is fine and snowfree approx half the route beyond. Fairly solid but firm snow patches line most of the remaining route, with snow disappearing until you reach the fallen down snowshed. The tread is hikable a bit further until avalanche debris marks the turnaround. We hiked the work party access trail down to our 2nd vehicle, marking our first ever one way trip on the often done trail. Can't believe 8 of us hiked this and none of us turned in a trip report! Better late than never.

Great day for hiking; hiked to tunnel where encountered snow. Some mounds of snow below several of the concrete walls but easy walk-arounds or over. And some water on trail. Saw some lovely magenta orchids on edge of trail near Martin crossover.