May 6, 2006
With a "chance of showers" in the forecast, we took a chance too, heading north and east to hike the Robe Canyon Historic Trail near Granite Falls WA. The trail descends from the road and runs along the edge of the Stillaquamish River on an old railroad bed. Once near the river, you feel as if you are far from civilization. It's quite amazing.

"The railroad was built in 1892-93 to transport gold, silver and ore from mines at Monte Cristo to Everett. Financial panics brought mining to an end and floods permanently closed the railroad line in the early 1930s. The track was dismantled by the mid-'30s. Today only a few miles of the grade remain and nature has taken back the canyon." <read more here>

** If you have Google Earth installed, you can click on this Placemark file and it will fly you to the location of the Robe Valley Trail. The trail follows the river seen in the video. If not, you will need to install Google Earth first.

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Here I am all ready for action. It's not raining - yet!
The trail was very pretty - so many shades of green.
Salmonberries were blooming all over the place.
Ferns were opening, too.
The first part of the trail was a switchback leading downward.
I stopped to take a picture, not noticing that a tree fell on my back. ;-)
Here's what I was photographing - I think they're a type of forget-me-not.
The path was lined with huge, old, moss-covered trees.
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