Robe Canyon

Once upon a time, they built a railroad from Everett up into the mountains.  East of Granite Falls, it followed the North Fork of the Stilliguamish through Robe Canyon.  But it hasn't been a railroad in a long, long time.

This has been on my list of snow-free, early season hikes that might be good in rainy weather, so with M grading papers, Memorial Day seemed like a good day to check it out.

Other than the railroad grade itself, there isn't much evidence of trains or rails, but the old lime kiln still stands and the forest is littered with saw blades and various other rusted relics of the early 20th century.  The railroad, and therefore the trail, are high above the river, but at the far end the trail drops to the river and the cobbly gravel bar made a good place for lunch.  Just upstream the piers of the old railroad bridge still stick out of the moss.

Apparently, you can also hike in from the other direction, on the other side of the river, but the trails don't connect -- maybe some day, but that would require some way to cross the river.

Last Memorial Day weekend, I was heading to Minnesota. I spent Memorial Day itself kayaking up the Snake River to Shoshone Falls - quite a contrast to to today's adventure (Shoshone Falls: May 2012).