We drove and explored, and parked and hiked. All day long, in the foothills west of Mount Rainier. It was an amazing day, and we found a lot of cool places.
A tall stone chimney is all that's left of a CCC camp near Eatonville. It was used by the crew that built a nearby hydroelectric plant.
An abandoned road to a flooded townsite still has a yellow strip down the middle, and an old-style guardrail made from concrete pillars and cables down one side. It was a bit creepy, walking down the road toward the water, and watching roadbed and barricade disappearing into the lake. I could imagine what it was like, driving this road through a beautiful valley, coming around a bend in the road, and seeing a small town.
Our last adventure was driving up the Carbon River, to do an earthcache. The long Carbon River bridge is closed to cars because of flood debris damage. We walked across it, 600+ feet of it, to look at the flooding. And watched as the sun went down through the trees.
We ended the day after dark, with a beer and a steak at a cool pub in one of the tiny mining towns that are clinging to life and doing very well. We come here whenever we drive into the national park on this out-of-the way road.
It's fun to discover hidden clues from days gone by.
ReplyDeleteI love that fireplace, too awesome!
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