Old Robe CanyonTrail 7-16-14

With beautiful summer weather and the light lingering late, I decided on a short after-work hike today.  Cedar and I headed up the Mountain Loop Highway to the Old Robe Trail.  I have hiked this only once before and it was in deep snow with it falling thick and fast the whole time.  This was the 1st time I would actually see the trail I was walking on. 
After a short jaunt through some small conifers and 5 easy switchbacks, we came out on the Robe Canyon floor.  Huge mossy maples stretched their limbs out over the trail and other deciduous trees towered above, shading the trail.  I was expecting it to be oven-like at the bottom, but it was actually quite nice.  There were some ponds and marshy areas though and I was not expecting bugs, so I did get gnawed on a bit. 

Soon we were at the banks of one of my very favorite rivers, the Stilliguamish.  It was gorgeous, babbling and shining in the sun.

 

A bit further, and going over dry creek beds, I saw the 1st sign of old ruins.  I'm not sure what this was.. maybe the remnants of a bridge or part of a building?

 

 Further yet, and I could see where the railroad had gone. First there was just the kind of cement and stones that I saw a lot of, and then further on and I could still see some of the wooden railroad ties with spikes in them.  It's amazing they built a railroad in this canyon at all and also amazing that any of it is left at all!

The canyon deepened and narrowed with the Stilly sometimes churning and thundering over rocks and sometimes hushing into turquoise pools.  I imagined the fish that might be in there.

Here was a little sluice that went under the railway to channel the water coming down the bank into the river.

 

 Suddenly looming ahead (a ways after the "go back, this is the end of the trail" sign) we saw the 1st tunnel!  I ran into very few people on the trail, but the last group had told me that the going was safe and easy even for Adventure Dog all the way to the 2nd tunnel.

The first tunnel was long and had a bend in it, so I actually put on my headlamp.  The second tunnel was short, but I didn't go in.  I just snapped a picture and that was our turnaround point.

On the way out I spied a water ouzel doing what water ouzels do best.  They are so fearless!  This one bobbed in and around all the frothing whitewater.  He landed on one rock where a gush of water washed him off, but nonplussed he just landed on a different rock.  This was a great hike!  I'll do it again for sure.

Skagit River 1-1-14

On New Year's Day Dave and I drove up the Skagit River hoping to see bald eagles in large numbers.  As it turns out, we only saw 3 or 4 total, but it was still worth the drive.  The Skagit is such a huge beautiful river. 

There is actually an eagle in this picture.

 

 Let me zoom in... see?

We drove up to Marblemount and went to the fish hatchery.  It wasn't open, but there is a little nature trail there that leads down a stream and to a branch or tributary of the Skagit.  There were coho and another kind of salmon, just the very last stragglers of the run coming up the little stream to the hatchery they were born to spawn.  The coho were bright red on their sides.

 

 Adventure Dog really enjoyed being able to stretch his legs and check out the scenery.

 

 

 So did Adventure Dave!

We talked to a man who was there steelhead fishing and he said the energy companies let their dams on the Skagit hold up too much water last winter and Fish and Wildlife asked them to release some of their water as the river was too low, but they refused until all the red tape had been cut through and they were officially told they had to.  They did, but the river had been too low and froze and thousands upon thousands of salmon eggs were destroyed.  It's reprehensible that knowing better they did nothing to alleviate a terrible situation and thereby made a vast impact on our Northwest ecology and economy that will be felt for years to come.

 

It was a very interesting and scenic trip to make and we were happy with our little adventure even though we didn't see a lot of eagles.