Last year I discovered that this ointment called "Green Goo" that I'd gotten from an outdoor company was a wonder at soothing wasp stings. It needs reapplied every time the hurt comes back, but reduced pain and swelling. Similarly, the green trails of the Pacific Northwest are the green goo that soothes when the heart and soul are stung by various things in life. Again it needs reapplied often, but I am not going to complain about that!
This was a gorgeous sunny day to take a hike, and I headed up to Iron Goat with Cedar and Luna. I felt kind of bad because Adventure Dog is getting older and he was a bit tired from the hike the day before and Luna just hates going in the car. But my heart was in need of some green goo and it works better when my pups are along. I picked this trail because of the length still being a decent length, but easy as far as elevation gain so I wouldn't push Cedar too hard.
The wildflowers were stupendous! Wild strawberry, flowering currant, thimbleberry flowers, a lady slipper orchid, coral root, bleeding heart, Indian paintbrush, columbine, tall bluebells, and numerous other flowers I am not sure the name of.
Of course one of the biggest draws with this trail is the railroad history. This trail follows the lower and upper grades of an old railroad line, in fact the site of one of this country's biggest railway disasters. There are many tunnels in varying degree of erosion and vast stretches of concrete wall that once supported snowsheds, the hope in vain was to protect the railroad. I love these great walls, splashed with various colors of mineral, lichen and moss. Numerous little waterfalls cascade over them and one even has a little stream flowing down a channel at the bottom.
From the upper grade there are some decent views of the surrounding peaks as well, and if you're lucky you might see a train across the valley on the active rail line. I heard a couple going through (sadly you'll also hear Hwy 2 almost the whole time), but didn't catch one of the trains during a time I passed by an overlook.
Happy adventuring!
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| Forgot my cap and made do with a handkerchief, which I had never done before, so my hair ended up knotted in it lol |
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