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.
Comments