Robe Canyon Historic Trail

In an attempt to avoid driving straight trough the Seattle area, I chose to take the longer way around the metro area. Since my overnight stay in Mt Vernon, I got off the Interstate and rode out to Granite Falls which is home to Robe Canyon Historic Trail, where I chose to spend the day.

120 years ago, railroad crews faced the daunting challenge of building tracks along a flood-prone river to connect the mines at Monte Cristo with the smelters in Everett. A narrow canyon east of Granite Falls proved to be a particularly challenging spot to lay tracks; frequent floods and rock slides destroyed not only the tracks, but also the settlement of Robe. The repair costs were high, and the line was eventually abandoned. – http://www.wta.org

Once again, the trail ran through lush overgrown forest, soaked to it’s core from the previous days of rain. A half mile of switchbacks through the forest and down the hillside brought me down to the river, which was raging. The trail followed the banks of the river minus a few areas recently washed out. Some minor bushwhacking was needed, but nothing I hadn’t done before. After a mile or so I met up with the old rail road tracks which disappeared under a rock slide from last year. A sign notified me that the trail was closed due to multiple slides along the tracks, but just in sight and not far down the tracks was the first of six tunnels that I just had to go explore. Some very cautious hiking got me to the tunnel and the furthest I could go without some rope and a team to help. I snapped some photos and set back the way I came to return to the van. What a neat little adventure this trail turned out to be.