Lime Kiln Trail 1-20-2019

AppleWatch Stats:  6.92 miles RT, 690 ft of elevation gain.

Although this is a fairly busy trail, it is always a good one - especially in the winter when the high country is too snowy.  I have liked doing this trail on the weekends, ever since I took a day off a few years ago to hike it on a less populated weekday and my car window was smashed in.  I had nothing valuable in the car.  Apparently there is just no guarantees, because despite the business of the trail two nice girls that I had met on the trail had their vehicle broken into while hiking.  Someone needs to put a camera up out there or something!

Now for the good stuff... even with its mud, its close-to-townness, its popularity, this trail never fails to fill me with peace and joy.  The birds sing in the trees, the trail wends around turning from a road, to a trail, to a road and back to a trail again.  It winds along the beautiful green of the Stillaguamish River and takes you through history.  The trees themselves are covered with such thick moss, it looks like they have bright green fur.

I wish there was more structurally left here in the Cutoff Junction area than the lime kiln itself, but at least there is that!  I hope its moss covered rocks remain standing for a long time.

People have found artifacts and gathered them around the kiln - interesting bricks, rusty saw blades, etc.  I feel like there are less artifacts than there used to be - I hope they are just tucked behind trees and not stolen.  I remember an iron wood stove top from years ago and an enameled tin bowl.  Those things are no more to be seen.

If you can, I highly recommend going past the Lime Kiln to the little loop at the end of the trail and getting down onto the rocky edge of the Stilly.  The sound and movement of the water makes for an inspiring and soothing place to have a trailside snack.

Happy hiking!

Mine Road Trail 1-13-2019

This is actually the 3rd hike of the year, but I didn't get anything written about my last two hikes, which were in the same general area.  All three have been fairly short trails with little elevation gain.  Last weekend, Beaver Lake and White Chuck River Bench Trails just out of Darrington on the Mountain Loop Hwy.  Today's was just before Darrington off of Hwy 530, and Dave came along for the adventure! 

I was given verbal directions to this trail, and in my head combined those with the WTA directions.  The WTA directions were spot on, so lesson learned there (a bit of driving around in Darrington before realizing I needed to turn off before I got there). 

It was somewhat cold out, but the day was absolutely gorgeous!  Not a cloud in the sky.  This hike was a little on the dark side, due to being on the north slope of the ridge. 

This trail follows an old road, so it is nominal and gentle in elevation gain, as well as being pretty wide and flat.  The trail crosses, and meanders by different streams, under a pretty forest of maple and evergreens.  Cedar and Luna got to take advantage of the fairly unpopulated trail by dashing about unleashed, leaping up on logs, wading in the streams, and keeping an eye out for squirrels.

Just before the mine, you get a nice little view of the peak Whitehorse Mountain with waterfalls tumbling from it's rocky snowy sides, as well as some more little water falls cascading down the hillside in the woods. 

At two miles in you come to a beautiful stream, Larson Creek, to the left, and the old mine to the right.  The mine was cut into solid rock and seems as safe as a mine can be.   No one has closed it off either, which you tend to find on unsafe mines. 

The inside of the mine is a little stream of water, so prepare to be wet.  You'll see the old rail tracks under the water, which is interesting since it's not a particularly deep mine - maybe less than 100 ft.  We also saw quite a few frogs hanging out in there as well, which surprised me.  Maybe it stays warmer in there.  I did see quite a few little gnats hanging out in the old drilled holes (for dynamite?) so the frogs have a good food supply. 

This was a really peaceful hike, a tad on the short side, but most likely accessible year round if there isn't lowland snowfall.  I hope to go back and visit in the spring or summer as well.