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Ghosts of the past come alive on a magical new trail

By Greg Johnston
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter

Your head nearly swims by the time you follow the new Lime Kiln Trail into the mossy and mysterious canyon of the South Fork Stillaguamish River and reach the namesake stone edifice, a monument to those who toiled, sweated, ate, drank, laughed and cried here more than 100 years ago.

		JIM BRYANT / P-I
	Steve Dean of Stanwood passes another hiker on the Lime Kiln Trail. Dean spearheaded a seven-year-long project to create the newly completed trail and preserve a part of Washington history.

Who were they? Where did they come from? How did they build this thing? Did their wives and husbands and children live here with them? Were the winters long and lonely?

"These are all pieces of the puzzle," says Steve Dean, standing near the kiln looking at old bricks and other detritus of history. "But we don't know how it all fits. I know all the questions, I just don't know all of the answers. Maybe it's better that way."

History whispers along the Lime Kiln Trail as surely as the nearby river murmurs.

The 3.5-mile trail, built by Dean and a small army of volunteers, opened last month as the newest link in Snohomish County's nearly 1,000-acre Robe Canyon Historic Park east of Granite Falls. The park traces several miles of the long-abandoned Everett & Monte Cristo Railway, built in 1892 and 1893 to serve the gold, silver and copper mines at Monte Cristo in eastern Snohomish County.

The new trail is on the south side of the "Stilly" in the western part of the park. On the north bank and east section of the park is the equally fascinating Robe Canyon Trail, built in the 1960s mostly by a local Boy Scout troop. Dean and members of the groups that have rallied around the park, such as the Stillaguamish Citizens' Alliance and Volunteers for Outdoor Washington, hope that someday the twain shall meet and the two trails will be joined.

"That concept has captured the imagination of dozens of volunteers who helped build this trail," Dean says.

		JIM BRYANT / P-I
	The lush forest along the new Lime Kiln Trail has the look and feel of a rain forest. The 3.5-mile trail in Robe Canyon Historic Park near Granite Falls for the most part follows an old railroad grade, dating to the 1890s, which served a lime kiln.

But one step at a time.

For now, the new trail may well be one of the finest year-round paths in the Puget Sound lowlands. It's that nice, and not only because the remnants of the railroad and the kiln lend a historical ambience.

The river canyon here also is surprisingly wild and rain-forest wet, lined by sword ferns, big, moss-draped maples and towering Sitka spruce with great, spreading branches.

If the canyon stretch of the trail is sublime, however, the first mile or so is not.

From the trailhead outside Granite Falls, the first mile follows sections of, and crosses, logging roads through the regrowing clearcuts of a tree farm. But soon the trail skirts a rock outcrop, passes small Hubbard Lake and enters forest, dropping into a lush tributary ravine. It then reaches the old railroad grade and canyon at 1.6 miles.

This first portion of the trail is open to bicyclists and horse riders; the rest is open only to those on foot.

About a dozen signs carved into yellow cedar mark the route and explain some of the history.

These were placed by some of the 325 volunteers who put in more than 10,000 hours of work to build the Lime Kiln Trail. Except for two bridges built by Snohomish County crews, the trail was made without heavy equipment.

"There is considerable pride among some of the volunteers in the fact that it was hand-built," Dean says.

Once the railroad grade is reached, the intrigue begins. Here and there you can see flat spaces where sidetracks or bunkhouses or way stations must have been, and pieces of metal or broken dishes can be seen now and then.

		JIM BRYANT / P-I
	A moss-draped saw blade is one of the artifacts found along the Lime Kiln Trail.

"You wonder, what's the story behind that?" says Dean. "It's easy to imagine the railroad going through here 100 years ago."

On a bench above the river and railroad grade is the site where mill machinery once whined and sawdust flew. Old rusted saw blades begin appearing along the trail, along with more broken dishes and items such as rusty buckets. The trail crosses a couple of ravines, rounds a corner and suddenly the kiln looms up through the vegetation, its interior of firebrick and its exterior made of local stone.

Thirty or more feet high, it is now festooned with ferns. When it operated, apparently sometime between the 1890s and 1936, limestone from nearby quarries was loaded though the top from small cable cars, then heated. The kiln could take in 100 tons of limestone and produce up to 60 tons of powdered lime a day, according to historical accounts.

The lime reportedly was used as a whitener at a local paper mill and as a fluxing agent at an Everett smelter.

The primitive-looking structure really fires the imagination. Here recently we encountered an enthralled Harriet and Ray Olitt of Edmonds. "This is just spectacular; we're just enjoying the trail so much," said Ray. "We've hiked the other side (the Robe Canyon Trail) and this is equally spectacular, maybe more so. These remnants here are just amazing. I hope people leave them here."

That is a concern of many who have worked and hiked on the trail. Most of the stuff lying around is junk, but it does breathe historical significance into the place.

		JIM BRYANT / P-I
	Rotting boots probably used by workers constructing a railroad in the 1890's lie along the Lime Kiln Trail.

"If these things were museum quality, we'd look for a museum to take them," says Dean. "If people understand that if they leave it in place, it will tell the story for future generations. Hopefully they'll do the right thing."

While considerable historical research has been conducted on the railway, kiln and mining at Monte Cristo, no formal archaeological investigations have been conducted on the kiln or its surroundings. Snohomish County officials say there's no money for that.

"We're always concerned about preserving the historical record," says Louise Lindgren, county historical preservation specialist. "It's just a matter of providing the funding. The county budget is fairly strapped at this time."

It is against state law, Lindgren notes, to disturb cultural resources on public property.

Beyond the kiln, the trail follows the railway grade on a bench above the river, with glimpses down to its rocky shore and typically silty flows, before coming to its end at a loop of .2 mile. Here the trail climbs around a rocky knob to a viewpoint across the river.

Back when the steam whistle wailed and steel clattered against steel, the railroad here crossed the river on a trestle before plunging directly into a tunnel cut through the rocky opposite bank. The tunnel entrance has collapsed, the trestle is gone, but twisted steel support girders can be seen in the river on the far bank.

The loop then rounds the knob and drops to a gravel bar on the river, a pretty spot for a respite. "Last fall we were down here having lunch and saw salmon swimming up the river," says Dean.

In a short climb the loop is closed and hikers must retrace their steps back to the trailhead.

		JIM BRYANT / P-I
	Crockery shards scattered along the Lime Kiln Trail.

Those who also have hiked the Robe Canyon Trail on the opposite bank -- a more rugged reach of the canyon that passes through two old tunnels -- can't help but envision these two trails some day joining.

It would create one amazing journey through the wild river canyon and its vivid history -- truly a world-class trail -- eight or nine miles straight through.

But it would require a footbridge across the river, which physically, bureaucratically and financially would be daunting.

"That's going to be a very difficult thing to do," says Pat Kenyon, senior planner for Snohomish County Parks. "Trying to span the river, there are environmental concerns to deal with, and then there's the cost. We can't rely completely on volunteers, and we're in a tight budget situation now. It looks like we're going to lose three rangers next year."

Another problem, says Dean, is that a couple of miles of canyon separate the ends of the two trails.

However, Dean and his volunteers are urging the county to allow them to develop another trail, a middle section, on the opposite bank. It would start at a trailhead along the Mountain Loop Highway, not far from the existing Robe Canyon trailhead, and also would be about 3.5 miles. It would take several years, as the Lime Kiln Trail did. But if it comes to pass, a footbridge joining it all together would be the next logical step.

"We're not asking for a bridge at this time," Dean says with a smile. "But we reserve the right to ask for it in the future."

If you go

For information about the Lime Kiln Trail and the Robe Canyon Historic Trail, see the Web site of the Stillaguamish Citizens' Alliance at www.robecanyon.org

• The Snohomish County Parks and Recreation Department has not yet updated its Web site to include the Lime Kiln Trail, but some information on the Robe Canyon Trail is available at www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Parks/
• To reach the Lime Kiln trailhead, follow state Route 92 east to Granite Falls. In town, turn right on South Granite Avenue. In three blocks, go left on Pioneer Street, which leaves the city and becomes Menzel Lake Road. In a few miles, go left on Waite Mill Road and go past a school bus turnaround to the signed trailhead on the left.
  
  P-I reporter Greg Johnston can be reached at 206-448-8014 or gregjohnston@seattlepi.com

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