Iaus Club "The Apparatus" President: Gus Nelson
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iaUs Club "The Apparatus" President: Gus Nelson. 392-7428 Treasurer: Jim Cadigan '641-4046 ::~:~'- Secretarjr Lisa Burlingame 868-3513 May V' 'Thairman of the Board: . ,Miñning .746-1017 Bórdmnbers: .:.. !jed Weinmann' 392-9230, TedThciiisëfl.' 454-8643 r.t-: tO' •''T 1. 222-6175 rIibwen' 746-1010 ' A hiker stands on a wide trailhead, ele' feet*"on the okirts Tóynbee .723-6716 'rhoi!Ii)son' 831-6339. of a small town. The town spans most of a hey and frequently is Wanne Tagney Jones 2-7615 flooded. A large, dark river winds downva rd saltwater, more McFerren • 391-3359 than 20 miles distant.: Thefrailhead,nowatownpark,wasoi óf'a railroad station. üàh Alps was doubletrack. The railroa rbrachline, carried' Hotllne: 328-0480 the line here hou! freightn thgw r ca'tde foothills. rations Director. From thi point trains headed north to inte nscontmental line 391-3359 running east from saltwater over the Casc eother direction vii Director: Joe Toynbee. 7234 tracks, ran toward another transcontinental ky, Government Issues: Ne1son,392-7428 S Greenway Director staflons..Uny one u 454-8643 ous route to the Casi id Iand Trails Director: ,This track did fl( phOwen• 746-1070 .oldtiine steam engiii perhaps more like 1 'Pxr.&Helen Thompson' 831-6339 Merhbership records: Actually, three I Art Wallenstein • 392-7813. apartial line still ex p Vókiñieers Coordinator: facts. an occasional ( Mai'Cadigan'641-4O46' Booksales0issufttiorn. Marty Hanson • 392-2458 i:i.Watchers: Ruth Kees • 392-3410 RogeiJ)elmar .392-9553 Cougar Watcher: Sarah Haynes .562-8092 'This branchlin& followed the route of Li. AbielTinkhain(tw Squak Watchers Dan DeWald .391-4395, Snoqunimie peaks are nand for him) as he explored from Puget Sound Gus Nelson • 392-1428, to Snoqualinie Pass in 1854. Today it still provides a transcontinental Marc Bullock • 271-9932 route, albeit a fiber-optic: one. Tiger Watcher: larry Hanson • 392-2458 growing Raging River and Preston Watcher: From the trailhead t6 hiker walks past 20-year-old fir trees Maryanne Tagney Jones '222-7615 on the site of the old station, passes a high school on a raised bed, and in Rattlesnake Mountain Watcher: more than a mile, gains only 18 feet of elevation. On loth sides of the Ted Thomsen • 454-8643 grade stand new subdivisions and old farms. Hay barns moulder in wet Chief Ranger: Bill Longwell .222-6775 pastures roamed by a variety of breeds of cattló. The grade soon crosses a Save Lake Sammamish Boaid wide river, drift logs lining its gravel banks. About 2 miles beyond, a Fred Weinmann • 392-9230 Friends of Grand Ridge Rep: smaller fishable stream crosses underneath the grade, but new homes line access. Eagles sometimes Maryanne Tagney Jones ' 222-7615 its banks. Fisherfolk must be clever to find Washington Trails Assn. Rep: Tom Lucas perch in tall trees to hunt the stream. Volunteers for Outdoor Washington Rep: During the hunting season hunters stalk nearby, right along busy JoeToynbee'723-6716 rc.ads and the backyards of close-by homes, seeking their prey. The hiker Snoqualmie Valley Trails Club Liaison: fabric of Roy Thompson' 831-6339 may be treated by sounds of their gunfire, an ornament of the Legal Advice: Tom Lucas sound in this neighborhc9dCrows and ravens and occasional gulls lend The Alpiner is published in cacophonous protests. Jànuaiy, April, July and October by The grace curves at a duckpond, passes a small, still active sawmill .( The Issaquah Alps Trails Club and aims for the forested hillside. Here the grade/trail serves as interface .P.O. Box 351, Issaquah, WA 98027. betwtei current logging and new subdivisions.: Jüncos, their two white- Subscriptions: $10 per year. the Copy Editor: Harvey Manning' 74641 tail!thers sign*lling thçit retreat, scatter ahead of theiikr and into Production: Sissy Roth & Mark Bullock - hitM Distribution: Rodi Ludlwn' 6j3-4095 - kY - • 4, \ A Puzzle... (cont.) on for the whole 12 miles. .Greenway Hike trees to stir up a flurry of other The grade must climb almost a birds: bushtits and chestnut-backed mile upstream to an airy crossing eri es chickadees. If he waits long and then reverse its course, com- Joe Toynbee enough, the hiker spots Hutton's pleting a classic railroad horseshoe vireos and kinglets. curve to head downstream. Near This coning July the Issaquah " In olden times as a train ap- the head of this valley the old grade Alps Trails Club will conduct a proached a road crossing, a "W" on crosses the stream on a 10-foot- series of hikes to acquaint partici- tall white signs reminded the wide curved trestle that stands 200 pants with the various sections of engineer to whistle. In mind's ear a feet above white water. Vertigo! the 1-90 Greenway Corridor. nostalgic hiker can hear the long- Horses do not cross here. Deer do Anyone doing all six of the hikes lost sounds. not cross hear. They have built would be replicating most of the After 4 miles the east-bound their own trail down into and "Mountains-To-Sound March" walker can see far up-valley a tall across the stream and up again. which the club sponsored in July of mountain that serves as a bench- Some hikers turn back because the 1990. Each individual hike will mark to nearby communities. Now ties sit about 4 inches apart and have its own leader and be con- the grade cuts through a ridge and some of them wobble! Other hikersj ducted in the same manner as hikes winds beneath tall trees, mostly cross by linking arms to fonn an in the regular hike schedule. firs. An autumn wind passes electric current to power the neces- The hikes and their dates are: through the treetops and works at saiy courage. July 11, Saturday. the soft fibers of rotting snags. Beyond the trestle views open Snoqualmie Pass to McClellan Occasional cracking sounds predict up-valley toward Snoquahnie Pass. Butte trail on the railroad grade. the certain outcome of this contest. The grade here takes dead aim, on Optional overnite campout at the After a 2 percent climb, reason- West Tiger Mountain. The northern Tinitham Campground. ably steep for most railroads, the Olympics loom in the west. The July 12, Sunday. MClellan grade levels and rides along a grade turns east and leaves the Butte trail to Rattlesnake Lake on bench high above the nearby violent stream. the railroad grade. (Some portions highway. Planes fly low overhead Original plans in 1888 called of this route may be bypassed to approach a private air strip. for this railroad to climb a nearby because of downed trestles.) Peering from the edge of what valley and cross the Cascades at July 18, Saturday. was a siding, the hiker can find a Dutch Miller Gap, a wild idea Rattlesnake Ridge. view across the 2-mile-wide valley perhaps inspired by Pacific Rail- 'July 19, Sunday. Tiger to another grade hugging the wall way crossing of Stampede Pass. Mountain. of the next ridge to the south. Both Moss-covered boulders and July 25, Saturday. Squak grades joined about a dozen miles licorice fern line the now-level and Cougar Mountains. ahead, at a sawmill that still oper- grade. One or two telephone poles July 26, Sunday. Newcastle ates. On the valley floor a church still stand. Metal hangs from their Beach Park to Discovery Park. steeple stands above a rural subdi- SUmmtS, but a climb would knock (Seattle has greenways, too!) vision. At this point the grade once the whole pole down. To receive more complete again begins a 2 percent climb, Most hikers exit at the next information on these hikes, includ- passing over fills and through cuts paved road to cars or the bus' line, ing routes, distances, leaders, and under several rockslides; about a mile distant. But don't meeting places, etc., please send a Boulders 3 feet high line the grade. leave the grade until passing self-addressed, stamped envelope Some doubtless fell on the tracks, a through a tunnel for views to a after May 1 to: Greenway Hikes, menace to trains. sawmill this grade once served. 5908 So. Prentice Street, Seattle, At another view of the bench- Two miles beyond the mill await 98178. Additional information will mark mountain, the grade passes a more treasures: what's left of a be in the next Alpiner. red,#8 painted on a rock and enters,, covered bridge and intact beaver a 'Stj walled valley drained bya 'ths, brand new in 1991. Beyond violent stream. White water POUTS That he more airy trestles, the high over huge boulders and waterfalls Cascads,awidelake, the Great and races to its confluence with the Athóiicñ' Desert, and the Rockies. large, dark river in the main valley. Do you know the location of This stream offers the main attrac- this grade? For the solution see tion for the hikers who have kept page 9. Page2 •>' • .••••,', •' • Public Involvement—What Can You Do? by Sarah Young with Gus Nelson Do you have an environmental concern for our local area? Do you want to preserve md enhance our hiking trails? Do you have a question regarding trail use enforcement? Are you interested in wetlands and wildlife issues? Consider contacting the King County or Issaquah local government agencies for information or action. The IATC can help you find the right organization or person within our local government to talk to! If uncertain about who to contact, call the President or a Vice-President of the IATC for assistance. For questionable activities on Cougar, Squak, or Tiger Mountain, also feel free to contact the IATC Cougar, Squak, or Tiger Mountain Watcher.