Lime Kiln Trail - Granite Falls

Two weeks ago I tried this hike and Granite Falls had so much slushy snow, that I could barely turn around in a parking lot and head back on the highway to town.  Today was lovely.  No snow, no rain, a nice cloud cover to start that lifted later in the afternoon.

Cedar and I got a late start around 9, but when we got to the Lime Kiln trailhead there was only one other car there.  We started off through the woods, and it was so beautiful and green- the phrase “peace like a river through my soul” came to mind.  The moss here didn’t know about the “north side” rule, and grew everywhere, making tree trunks furry and green.

All the melting snow and recent rainfall had filled the world with water, which dripped off the trees and rushed under each fern in rivulets, trickles, and streams toward the river. 

At one point the trail went down quite a sizable stream and I was pretty happy to hear it singing along, until I went further to the Stillaguamish.  One look at that muddy green water, like angry flowing crème de menthe, put that river into my heart immediately.

 

I’m not sure what the mileage was when the trail came to the steep hillside above the Stilly, but it pretty much followed it the rest of the way, perched high above the churning river, sometimes on what seemed like a mere goat trail.  The recent rains had eroded the earth too, and there were a few places that were obviously fresh landslides, and newly fallen trees. 

Only one of these places made me nervous… it was basically an avalanche chute straight down into the Stillaguamish with a barely-a-trail from one side to the other.  Also on the side closest to the trailhead, I could see where the ground was cracked underfoot and wondered when that might go too.

I had wondered if I would see any bald eagles on the Stillaguamish, like I had on the Skagit expedition with my Mom and Justus, but although I scanned the trees, as I walked along I didn't spot any.  I was pleased to see an eagle nest though, which made me think they must be around.

There had been a settlement there near the lime kiln- I'm not sure for how long, but there wasn't much left of it.  The railway grade had been active for about 40 years, so I was expecting more artifacts.  Most of what I saw, where saw blades and such that others had thoughtfully leaned up against trees. 

 I took pictures of what I saw and then went to check out the lime kiln itself.  It was a tall rectangular monument of stone, now with cracks and decorated with moss and ferns.  It was quite thick and a small oven was inside, even now with white limestone built up and pouring out in a non-moving sort of way.  Limestone was broken up and heated in this kiln to make lime or quicklime apparently, but I am still a little fuzzy what that was used for in this case.  I read that it was used in the production of steel as well as in mortar.

I decided to try and scramble up a steep clay bank to the left of the kiln so I could check out that side of it.  It was steep and wet clay, but not too high, so I got up on the first ledge, got my footing and lunged for the top.  Unbeknownst to me, my sweet mutt had wrapped his end of the leash around a large rock I had just photographed and as I lunged, I found out what it felt like to come abruptly to the end of a leash.  Stopped in midair, the only way to go was down, so I ended up just sliding a couple feet on my knees down a clay embankment.  Fun.

After checking out the lime kiln, I decided I was totally up to do the optional trail end to the Stillaguamish, down on its ‘beach’ which would not be very large today.  That put our total hike at 7 miles round trip though, which was a nice workout.  Gradually the high bank the trail had been on, dipped down to water level and it was wonderful.  You could hear the water churning, and the occasional muffled thump of a huge boulder being turned in the depths.  There was a man and his little dog down on the narrow, wet rocky beach and I didn’t want to disturb them, so we went on and finished out the loop.  We walked back to the lime kiln where Cedar got lunch and part of mine.   Then, there it was!  A big bald eagle, almost at our level went swooping down the river.  He unfortunately caught me with a luna bar in my hand instead of my camera, but it made my already great day, that much greater.