FEATURE
Riding a rail trail By Dylan Weldin ires inflated, brakes checked and daypack loaded for our bike trip at Snoqualmie Pass. Cool air beckoned us into the depths as we flicked on our headlamps and pushed into the darkness. The echoing whoops and hollers of other travelers reverberated off the concrete lining of the walls of Snoqualmie Tunnel. In 1914, Milwaukee Road railroad engineers blasted their way through the rhyolite stone that forms the summits of the Snoqualmie Pass ski area and holds up the tread of the Pacific Crest Trail. After 70 years of train traffic, the line was suspended and quiet returned to the region as the echoes of the conductor’s whistles faded from memory.
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From train to trail Today, the rail grade remains and serves as a phenomenal recreation destination as part of the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, treating cyclists and hikers to miles of reasonable grades, spectacular trestle bridges and the rush of mountain streams making their way from snowcapped peaks west into Puget Sound. Washington State acquired the land of the railroad corridor after the 1977 bankruptcy of the railroad and went to work converting the surface from rail line to recreation wonderland. Cross-country skiers flock to the gentle grades
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and sweeping views in the winter months, and the summer supports overnight camping at primitive sites best accessed by bicycle.
Emerging to the beauty After over two miles of steady pedaling underground in the tunnel, the chill of the darkness gave way to the smell of Douglas firs and the blooms of purple foxglove and fireweed as we emerged. The breeze set the treetops dancing, and we stopped to shed layers (it’s brisk underground!), have a snack and take photos of the terminus of the tunnel.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord FOCUS September 2021
