A grand adventure

[scarlettina]

Yesterday I ventured out with friends to the Snoqualmie Tunnel on the Iron Horse Trail (known primarily as the John Wayne Trail, but I like Iron Horse better) for a morning's adventure. The Snoqualmie Tunnel started out as a railway tunnel, part of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, built around 1913. When it was abandoned, it became a destination for adventurers. It has recently been renovated as part of the Iron Horse Trail for bicyclists and hikers. This trip, instigated by selinker and brumbjorn, was specifically to hike the tunnel itself, a 2.5 mile walk one-way through the dark, cool, damp tunnel.

An intrepid group of 11 of us met at the trailhead, ready for exploration. As we walked toward the tunnel opening, we felt a cold breeze sweep toward us perhaps 200 feet from the actual entrance. It was the perfect beginning to our adventure.




And in we went. The walk, one way, was about an hour. Equipped with flashlights, we tromped past empty utility niches, water dripping from the ceiling, and dead light fixtures. The deeper we went, the colder it became, until--we speculate--the temp got to be about 40 degrees, lovely on a hot day. The light at the other end of the tunnel was tiny, but slowly grew as we marched on.




Note for fantasy authors: Holding a lantern up in front of one in the darkness--unless it is blocked on the side facing you--doesn't actually help vision in the dark; it blinds your sight. Don't have your heroes do this unless they're inexperienced or just stupid. And, by the way, it doesn't help much anyway. Darkness is far more aggressive than one realizes until one is in the middle of it.

We emerged at the other end about an hour after we entered, and discovered a small, lovely waterfall and a beautiful vista.




brumbjorn noticed that the waterfall had moved from its location immediately next to the tunnel opening. She speculated that a rockfall was behind the move. I think that, with the refurbishment the tunnel received, it's possible that the waterfall was diverted for safety reasons--though that thought only just occurred to me.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch at some conveniently placed picnic tables just beyond the entrance, a couple of us went and did a little geocaching (I didn't because I really wanted the rest), and then my friends indulged me and posed for a group photo.




We concluded the trek by walking back through to the trailhead. The walk back actually went much more quickly than the walk through, I think, because we'd already been through and so kept up a quicker pace. It was still delightful and much fun. Definitely an excursion worth taking.

Comments

[skidspoppe.livejournal.com]

Sounds awesome!

There's gotta be a place in a story for this experience!

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

There almost certainly is. I just have to figure it out, is all. :-)

[garyomaha.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun (sure could use a cool tunnel around here these days). I wonder if someone like me with serious dark/light vision problems would be able to do this?

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Unsure, Gary. I know that the quality of one's flashlight made a difference to what could be seen, but the fact is that the darkness is pretty overwhelming, even with a good flashlight. The good thing is that the trail inside the tunnel has been conditioned for foot and bicycle, so it's a fairly even walking surface. The only concern was the dripping water, of which there isn't a large amount. You just have to be willing to...embrace the darkness. :-)

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I've been curious about that, so thanks for the tour!

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Happy to provide.

[wolflahti.livejournal.com]

Eleven people in your party, eleven people in the photo...

Who took the picture?

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

We asked a bicyclist who had stopped at the same picnic area we did to take the picture.

[singingnettle.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I haven't done that in years! I'm glad you had fun.