With a high of 93 degrees in Wenatchee, today Karen and I hiked Iron Goat Trail near Stevens Pass for five miles. It was deliciously cool walking inside a mile-long, cement protective train tunnel built in . It felt like being in Europe.

Iron Goat Trail on Stevens Pass is on an old, abandoned railroad bed with iron spikes still in the ground beside the trail. Wooden ties rotted long ago.

"Look! A bear clawed that tree," Karen said.

Unmaintained, the trail was badly overgrown. Karen and I cut down toxic, thorny Devils Club and Nettles by slashing the stems with our hking poles like swords. It was fun.

We walked through the site of the Wellington train disaster of March 1, . Commemorative plaques told the story. A huge Pacific storm hit with heavy snow. Lightning triggered an avalanche that slammed two trains- a passenger train and mail train- down into a deep canyon. Continual blizzards and avalanches prevented rescuers from arriving.

In , coal-powered rotary snowplows only cut through inches of snow per hour. Men shoveled coal into the snowplow, while others shoveled snow before and behind the snowplow. Meanwhile, 96 passengers and railroad employees- many injured- froze to death. There were only six survivors.

Wellington Train Disaster, WA

[history.com]

Photos:

1. In after the Wellington train disaster, this cement protective train tunnel was built to funnel avalanches over trains. This was the first cement train tunnel in the world. Wooden tunnels rotted away long ago, flattened by avalanches.

2. Mountain bluebells.

3. View from the trail.

4. Mountain Columbine flowers.

5. A bear clawed this tree trunk above my face level. I'm 5' 5" tall. A large bear.