If there’s one thing Western Washington has in spades, it’s atmosphere. As summer leaves redden, the landscape’s palette changes to a moody gray and green. For some Washingtonians, this is their cue to head indoors, crack a book, and wait out the drizzle. For others, it means selecting outdoor activities that make the most of the weather’s melancholia. Check out Iron Goat Trail for a spooky, historical hike in Washington this fall!
You'll start the hike at an elevation of over 2,000 feet in Stevens Pass. Though Indigenous peoples had been making the trek across the Cascade Mountain range for thousands of years, this pathway through the mountains was only surveyed in 1890. It was soon put to use as a railway crossing that connected Eastern to Western Washington, facilitating a surge of development in the state.
You don't need calves of steel to enjoy Iron Goat Trail. Though it's six miles round-trip, you only gain 700 feet in elevation, a mere frolic compared to most alpine hikes in Washington. Beginning at the Martin Creek trailhead, the walk follows the old, sinuous path of the Great Northern Railroad.
The first three miles of Iron Goat Trail are wheelchair accessible. Visitors who complete this initial section will still see the maze-like tunnels that make this trail a spooky-season favorite. Interpretive signs along the path help hikers make sense of the dilapidated infrastructure, which was completed following the Wellington Avalanche Disaster of 1910.
See, another name for Iron Goat Trail is the Wellington Ghost Town Hike. Wellington was a small, unincorporated railroad town founded in 1893. Before it was abandoned, Wellington residents couldn't know that their ill-fated community would be the site of what remains the United States' deadliest avalanche.
Nine consecutive days of blizzard conditions in late February 1910, trapped two Seattle-bound trains at the Wellington depot. The sheer amount of snowfall meant Wellington residents could do little to help clear the obstructed tracks, but it was a sudden thunderstorm that spelled disaster.
Lightning struck the side of Windy Mountain. A ten-foot wall of snow, half a mile long and a quarter mile wide, careened towards the town, wiping out the community and the depot, and taking the lives of ninety-six people. The impact of the avalanche threw the trains approximately 150 feet and rescuers only managed to pull 23 people from the wreck alive.
Following the Wellington avalanche, the town was renamed "Tye." It would only persist for another twenty years before the Great Northern Railway completed the second Cascade Tunnel. Following the opening of this less mountainous, less hazardous line, residents abandoned former Wellington and a large fire would burn what remained.
Visitors can still see the mouths of the tunnels constructed to protect trains from future tragedies. Though it isn't safe to explore them, they're evocative reminders of the area's devastating history.
For more information about Wellington, check out the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle's Chinatown-International District. Since 1967, this Smithsonian-Institution affiliate has been the only museum in America to focus on pan-Asian and Pacific American history, culture, and arts. Around 800 Japanese immigrants built the railroad near Iron Goat Trail and the museum provides walking tours of the site.
At Iron Goat Trail, a spooky, historical hike in Washington connects you to a little-known story of our state’s history. This autumn, it’s absolutely worth donning your rain gear to check out this unique place.
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