I take to the trail for many reasons. I want to get back to nature, admire a forest of ancient giants or a meadow bursting with colors, perhaps gaze out at a sea of jagged peaks or sit by a placid lake and contemplate my place in the world.
I hike to appreciate nature and all of its grandeur. I hike to escape the civilized world. But sometimes I hike to places that were once part of the civilized world, places where man tried to conquer, shape, and exploit – only to have nature have the final word.
The backcountry of the Pacific Northwest is littered with relics and artifacts that tell human stories. Although I enjoy seeking out these sites to appreciate history, the natural world that now envelops them is still my primary objective. I’d like to share with you some of these special places, to introduce you to a few historic hikes. And perhaps once you’ve explored them, you, too, will walk away with not only an appreciation of our state’s natural beauty, but of its human history as well.
Ghost Towns
Arizona, Nevada and Idaho are teeming with them, Washington has an illustrious mining past and its share of ghost towns. Towns sprang up with the rushes and faded into oblivion with the busts. Okanogan County’s first county seat, Ruby, no longer exists. Some ghost towns, however, remain fairly intact, such as Eastern Washington’s Liberty, Molson and Chesaw. They can even be driven to.
But one of the best to hike to is right in Snohomish County, Monte Cristo.
Monte Cristo
Established in the 1890s in a high basin ringed by a 7,000-foot wall of impenetrable peaks, Monte Cristo thrived at the turn of the 20th century. Tramways dangled on the steep-surrounding slopes delivering ore to the valley below. It was then hauled to market by rail. By the 1940s, a road connected Monte Cristo to the outside world. But alas, the mineral wealth faded, the economy soured and Mother Nature assaulted the outpost with floods and avalanches.
Now all that remains are a few houses, the ruins of a hotel and an old mill. You can reach the site by a fairly easy 4-mile hike along the old road from Barlow Pass on the Mountain Loop Highway. The surroundings are breathtaking. Follow the South Fork of the Sauk River into the forbidding basin that houses the town site. Trails lead further into the high country. What were once prospectors’ paths to old mines, are now portals into the adjacent Henry M. Jackson Wilderness. A walk-in Forest Service campground is maintained just outside of the town site. Remaining cabins and structures are private property, so please respect them, and remember that all relics should be left for others to enjoy.
Gold Hill
Around the same time that Monte Cristo started showing up on the maps, new settlements began to appear in the rugged high country north of Mount Baker. Places such as Gold Hill would have a fate similar to Monte Cristo. By 1898, the same year as the Klondike Gold Rush, a stampede was on in the North Nooksack drainage along the Washington-British Columbia border. Along the Twin Lakes, near Skagway Pass (named for the infamous Pass the Klondike Rushers marched over looking for riches), the town of Gold Hill (sometimes referred to as Shuksan) sprang up almost overnight. A post office, stores, cabins and 1,500 residents residing primarily in tents, transformed the meadows of Twin Lakes into a boomtown.
The prospectors marched high into the surrounding peaks searching for veins and sometimes searching in vain. As the mineral wealth ran out, the town’s residents ran out with it. By the 1920s Gold Hill’s luster had faded. Avalanches finished off what remained of the town.
Today, all that is left are tailings and holes in the ground. Place names attest to this bygone era. You can hike on good trails to Gold Run Pass, Gargett Mine, Silesia Creek and Excelsior Peak. You can drive to Twin Lakes, but it’s a rough road – better to park at the trailhead for Gold Run Pass and hoof the 2.5 miles to the Lakes. Branch out from there and explore Winchester Mountain, High Pass and Klondike Pass. There’s not much mineral wealth left but you’ll strike it rich with spectacular North Cascades views.
If you go
Monte Cristo
Trailhead at Barlow Pass on Mountain Loop Highway, 20 miles west of Verlot Visitors Center.
www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs
Gold Hill
To get to the trailhead, drive east on state Route 542 (the Mount Baker Highway). 13.5 miles beyond Glacier, and just after the maintenance sheds, turn left (north) on Forest Road 3065. Follow for 4.5 miles to the trailhead.
Two other great Ghost Town hiking destinations:
Chancellor, via Canyon Creek from the North Cascades Highway.
Mineral City, via Silver Creek from Forest Road 63, just outside of Index.
Craig Romano is the Trails Editor for Sports Etc. He holds a B.A. in history from the University of Washington.
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