After going out for Saturday morning breakfast, then washing two cars, and buying a new NW Forest Pass, I decided it was nice enough outside (once the fog lifted) to drive over Snoqualmie Pass to the Stampede Pass exit at Lake Kachess. Turn right, then drive about 15 miles on dirt road up and over the pass and down into the valley. Heading down, there are numerous view points of the valley, such as this:
Mt Rainier is centered in the top of the pic but the lighting didn’t adjust on the iPhone like I’d hoped so you could see it. Oh well. I continued on down the winding road, about 3 more miles, parking at a gate. The gate is about 2 miles from Lester, so walking in is the only option.
It was very warm and with nice breeze blowing leaves off the trees, and keeping me cooler in my sweatshirt. I took it off once I got into Lester, which was 25 min.walk from the gate. There were two other people ambling about, checking things out, but I passed them by and didn’t see them again. There isn’t much left of the old railroad town, but the BNSF line from Auburn to Easton, Cle Elum, and Ellensburg is still somewhat active.
Lester has a newly rebuilt wye, with concrete ties, but each of the branches had a derail device. Doesn’t look like they use the wye much. I ambled around the wye, then past, and out to the LESTER sign next to the tracks.
Hoping and listening for a train, I ate a snack bar while I enjoyed the view around, then walked next to the tracks headed back east until I came upon the 2 or 3 old homes which are now falling apart.
There are No Trespassing signs all over them, and of course these homes are old and no doubt fragile, so I stayed clear. I continued east, back to the wye, on the road towards the car, then detoured over to a small trestle, which was pleasant with some river water lightly flowing.
After about 45 minutes, with still no train coming from either direction, I got back on the road and started walking back toward the gate. The wind at my back, I was about halfway back(1 mile) when I heard it. Oh Crap! I couldn’t turn around and make it back in time, so I picked up my pace and decided I would get in the truck and get back up to that viewpoint I stopped at on the way in, because you can see tracks from there. It sounded like the train was making good time, I wasn’t sure I would get there before it went past, but I got lucky, it was going so slow that I was wayyyy ahead of it and had to wait at the viewpoint for it to catch up. Two engines on front pulling nothing but tank cars(maybe 100 or so, I didn’t count), and two engines pushing on the rear. I watched it wind around a horseshoe curve which I didn’t realize was there, slowly gaining altitude.
When it was out of sight I got back in the truck and headed home. There were a number of vehicles that I passed heading to Lester, and that was about 4pm. When I got back over Snoqualmie Pass I took the Denny Creek exit and crossed over the freeway to the south side, then took the dirt road that winds around to many of the trailheads in the area. There were numerous people recreating and camping as well along the south fork Snoqualmie River. It had been a long time since I explored that area, the dirt roads were in overall pretty good shape.