Know Your Limits!

We had set out to snowshoe to Artists Point on Koma Kulshan (Mount Baker) on a rainy February day, hoping to climb above snow level, and ended up getting more than we bargained for. It was snowing lightly when we got to the ski area parking lot, the trailhead for our hike, so we strapped on the 'shoes and headed out. Within 1/2 hour the weather had changed dramatically. Visibility dropped to 1/2 mile, then 1/4 mile and finally to 1/10 mile. The wind rose and blew the snow almost horizontally, making it hard to see 100' ahead.
We didn't have a topo map, hoping to follow the tracks of other snowshoers and relying on a GPS tracker to retrace our steps if need be. What we didn't count on was that there would be snowshoers going in many directions, or that the wind and snow would quickly obliterate their tracks and ours. Well, this was only our second snowshoe hike, and we obviously have much to learn.
After gaining a few hundred feet in elevation we encountered a sign with ominous warnings like "rescue may not be possible" and "your heirs may be fined $500". My heirs? That got my attention. So did the experienced skier who warned us that avalanche danger was increasing as the day wore on and oh, by the way, the trail we were looking for was on the next ridge over. We decided that discretion is the better part of valor and made a gradual retreat back to the truck.
If the weather was sunny our hike would have been just fine, and we plan to go back (with a topo map next time), but good judgement is as important as good gear in the backcountry, and forging ahead would have been a potentially fatal mistake. If you're unsure whether you can safely procede, don't. There's always another day. Besides, being too goal oriented is linear thinking at its worst. The journey is the destination, and we had a lovely if brief stroll through a winter storm at 5000' in the North Cascades, got a chance to test our winter gear under severe conditions (we stayed warm and dry) and got some nice pictures.

Mallardy Road

When I go hiking, I want to get away from roads, park the car at the trailhead and get out on my own two feet. So why am I writing about a road?
First, because Mallardy Road is beautiful, and second, because flood damage has made the road impassable to cars after 1.2 miles, it is a defacto trail. During summer you'll find very few cars on the road, since they can no longer reach the Mallardy Ridge trailhead 7 miles from the Stillaguamish River. It's an easy walk that is lined with salmonberries through second growth timber, passing a quiet pond and crossing Mallardy Creek at the start (its confluence with the South Fork Stilly) and 2 1/2 miles later on a bridge slated for repair in the fall of 2009.
During winter it takes on a whole new character. Cars can go no farther than the Mountain Loop highway, and if you procede on skis or snowshoes you soon enter a realm of peace and quiet, the only sounds are those of birds and the gentle murmur of the creek. Forest Service roads, dusty and noisy in summer, become still and wonderous in winter. The wide lanes and gentle grades make for excellent snowshoe trails, and their are so many miles of them that solitude is almost guaranteed, except in those places where snowmobiles and their infernal combustion engines shatter the peace so that fat, lazy people can sit on their asses while leaving a trail of smoke and decibels in their wake.
The hike up Mallardy Road is only limited by the time and energy you want to commit. For a short day hike, the bridge over the creek is a good turn around point. If you want to stay for a day or two, you can hike the 7 miles to the trailhead and then go for another 7 to 10 miles to the ridge itself, although you can expect to have to negotiate numerous blowdowns along the trail, which hasn't seen maintenance for a couple years. The payoff for all that work is the expectation of a solitude more complete than almost any other trail in Western washington.

Lime Kiln Trail

The Lime Kiln Trail is half of the Robe Canyon Historic Park (the other half is the Robe Canyon Trail, described below). The trail follows the route of the old Everett & Monte Cristo Railway, starting about 2 miles from Granite Falls just off Waite Mill Road, an easy to find trailhead thanks to good signage.
A quarter mile from the parking area you enter private forest land for 3/4 mile until reaching Hubbard lake and the park proper. There's good trout fishing here, but you have to bushwhack your way to the lake to find a spot to wet your line. The trail soon begins its descent, a mere 200' elevation loss, first following the lake's outfall creek, then turning to follow the South Fork Stillaguamish River at the same point you pick up the old E&MCR route at around 1 1/2 miles. Along the way pass historic markers, saw blades, pots, pans and old stoves (please do not remove artifacts) until you reach the lime kiln a mile later, covered in moss and ferns and rising from the forest like an ancient Mayan ruin. You can still see remnants of the last load of lime in the ovens.
So far you will have been parallel to but up above the river, but over the last mile you gradually descend to the river's edge. The boulder filled river has a sandy bank here, so enjoy a picnic lunch, watch the water dippers skim the rapids in search of bugs, or just enjoy the peaceful sound of the river before the easy hike back.
One caveat, which applies to any hike: check road/trail conditions before you go. On this February hike we found the trail to have a few fallen trees to crawl under/over, and the ground had slumped in a few places, but with minimal effort these obsticles were overcome. The bottom line is safety; if an unexpected change of terrain exceeds your comfort level, err on the side of caution. There's always another hike.

Robe Canyon Trail

When the backers of the Everett & Monte Cristo Railway wanted to attract East coast investors to finance their mining and logging railroad, they described the South Fork Stillaguamish river as "a pleasant little trout stream", which it is during the late summer. But from mid fall through late spring, rain and snowmelt combine to turn the river into a raging torrent that rearranges the landscape every year. The railway was difficult to build, and very costly to repair after the annual floods wiped out tracks, trestles and tunnels.

The railway eventually failed, as did the mining town of Monte Cristo, but it managed to hang on through WWII as a light rail line taking people to the resort at Big Four as well as fishermen to various spots along the river; fishing, hiking and camping are still popular in this valley, but are now accessed by road that is (mostly) removed from natures wrath. A hike on this trail will show you the power of the river and the futility of trying to build permanent infrastructure on ever changing terrain.

A 15 minute east of Granite Falls on the Mountain Loop Highway, the trail begins with a 200' drop to the site of the former town of Robe (the town still exists, but was relocated uphill and 2 miles east; be sure to stop at the Mountain View Inn for great home cooked meals and big-as-your-head burgers). The trail then joins the river for a little over a mile, passing through tunnels 5 and 6, where the hillside has washed out. The other tunnels have collapsed and the trail doesn't extend to them, although they are part of the Robe Canyon Historical Park, which includes the Lime Kiln Trail, which is reached by another road from Granite Falls on the river's south side.

The rail bed is still evident. In some places you can still see wooden ties that were embedded in concrete that was used to stabilize some sections of trail. In other spots, the hillside has given way and you have to scramble over boulders and glacial till to proceed. Full disclosure: signs have been put in place by very sensible people warning that the trail is closed at the first landslide, and only foolhardy scofflaws will proceed at their own risk, so before you go tell your next of kin not to bother suing the county. You were warned.

The safest time to see the trail is in the summer, when the weather is dry and the soil isn't saturated. The coolest time to see it is on a wet, stormy day when the river is raging, giving context to the ravaged railway.