AKA "John Wayne Pioneer Trail", the Iron Horse State Park is something I've only been vaguely aware of during the 15 years I've lived in the Seattle area. It just happens to have the word "Iron" in it too. Nice!
I've always wanted to ride from Seattle up to Snoqualmie Pass, but could never find a way to do it. Unfortunately, there really isn't a route (that I know of) that isn't on I-90. A few weeks ago, I picked up a Fuji Cross Comp Cyclocross bike at Performance. Owen happened to pick one up the following day. Since then I've been taking advantage of the last bits of summer and riding it to work almost every day. If I had any idea how much fun I would have with a bike like this, I would have bought one years ago. It is literally the most fun I've had on a bike since I was a kid. My commute to work has been different almost every day as I concoct new routes that allow me to hit a little bit of trail on the way in.
Cyclocross (CX) is a flavor of bike racing that is basically a cross between mountain bike racing and road racing, though CX predates mountain bikes by many decades. Anyway, a CX bike looks like a road bike but it's got knobby tires, a beefier frame, and cantilevered brakes. So they work pretty well on the road, and just as well off of it.
Soon after getting the bikes, I realize that we could use them to ride the Iron Horse Trail. It's something I've always wanted to do, but had completely forgotten about. The trail is a converted railway line that runs over 100 miles from North Bend, WA, through the Cascade Mountains, all the way to the Columbia River. Owen and I hatched this plan a few weeks ago and I have been SO excited about it since. We were considering a ride later in September, but the weather has been perfect for the last few weeks so we moved some things around to make it happen when it was sunny. I'm happy to report it was everything I'd hoped.
We got up to the trail head around 11 am and got our stuff ready and rolled out up the trail into the sunshine, setting a sensible pace up the steady railway grade up to Snoqualmie.
Before long, we come to the first bridge and it's just gorgeous. The pictures say far more than I could ever write. Click 'em for larger versions.
We continue on up the climb. The road surface is pretty good - just a few spots of loose gravel. Some parts are completely under the forest canopy and cool in the shade, some are out in the sun. It made for good variety.
Finally we get to the main attraction, which is a two mile tunnel that goes right under the Snoqualmie Pass ski resort. The tunnel is completely dark - no internal lighting - and pretty chilly to boot. Both Owen and I have lights (though his does the heavy lifting) so we can see well within the tunnel. There are quite a few people out there. In the first picture, the lights you see in the tunnel are people on foot and on bikes deep in the darkness.
It's creepy in there and very odd riding along at 15-20 mph with only a few feet of visibility. The road surface was very smooth but there were quite a few places where the tunnel leaks and water is coming in. Finally we reach the end and emerge back into the sunlight.
That puts us out at Hyak and we stop for some water at the parking lot. At this point, we're about 20 miles and 2 hours (including stops) into the ride.
There's lots of people out at Hyak. One thing that surprised me was the number of people walking that tunnel. Even on a bike, I was ready to be out of there. A long walk in the cold and the dark seems like the kind of thing that's a good idea for just a few minutes.
If you've been to the Summit ski resort there, the tunnel comes out just below the Hyak runs at the far East end of the ski resort. I suspect it's pretty well covered with snow in winter time.
We continue on Eastward. On the top of the Pass, the road is pretty flat for quite a while before you start to descend down, but even then it's not as far. The West side of the state starts at sea level, while the east side sits about 1000-1500 feet up. The pass is only at about 2500 feet.
The tunnel was the most novel part of the ride but there was still plenty to see. Not long after Hyak, we come to Lake Keechlus, which is the lake you drive by as you go along I-90. Our plan is to ride to the far end of the lake, then stop and eat our sandwiches.
The lake is a natural lake, but a dam raises it's level significantly, leaving al the exposed stumps during the summer low season. The landscape is really surreal.
We scrambled down a bank off the trail and make our way across the plain (middle picture) above to the water along a dried creek bed. As we make our way down towards the water, the creek's reveene gets deeper and deeper. We're seeing lots of animal tracks, and as we get close to the water, I see one that's different than the others. I point it out to Owen and he wisely suggests that we get out and walk along the top so we don't scare something at the water's edge.
So we eat lunch by the lake. The water is incredibly clear and not nearly as cold as I'd suspected. A quick swim is tempting, but not quite tempting enough.
We finish lunch, get back to our bikes and head back down. The way back is naturally much faster - not just because of the downhill. We moved with a bit more purpose on the way home.. After being on bumpy dirt roads for the better part of 5 hours, I was more than ready to be done.
But what a great day.
