Black Diamond NOW

Life in Camp

Recruiting new workers to logging camp was not easy.  Not only was the work physically exhausting and dangerous, it didn't always pay well either.  At some camps, you had to pay your own way to get there, pay for the cost of washing your clothes and in some cases pay for food.  The difference between advertised gross pay and "take home pay" could be quite significant.  And to top it off, life in camp was nothing to write home about.  How would you like to spend your non-sleeping hours in camp holed up with these characters?

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, circa 1918

The above camp was one of the better ones built by the U.S. government's Spruce Products Division for housing loggers to supply the military with light weight but strong spruce lumber used for manufacturing airplanes used in WWI.  A lot of testosterone packed into a small space. 

Once the supply of labor tightened, recruiting became more and more difficult for companies and turnover increased - which made life in the woods even more dangerous. Concerned logging/lumber companies then made significant efforts to improve camp conditions.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, n.d.

Housing became smaller and more neatly laid out and constructed, but being a logger still meant being isolated in a virtual all male environment with danger lurking.  Quite a life.

Logging in Carbonado

The Carbon River area is best known for its coal mining but building the top structures and supporting mine shafts required lots of wood.  Hence, logging nearby stands of timber was an early necessity.  Rather than build a sawmill, it appears that coal mine developers sometimes relied on rough lumber "made to order" in the woods.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, circa 1890

The above image shows the complete operation.  Timber fallers standing on spring boards.  Note how high off the ground timber was cut.  There was no need/use for logs with butt swell and by getting 5' or more above ground, this significantly reduced the amount of pitch that fallers would have to saw through. Conserving waste was clearly not a need or priority.  If lumber yields reached 50%, that would be very good.  Next, once timber was down, logs would need to be bucked to length using the cross cut saw shown on the right leaning against the stump - also known as a "misery whip".  Logs were cut to the lengths needed and then split by hand with axes.  Split segments that were big enough and straight enough, were then loaded on a sled to be delivered along cleared ground (or skid road) by a horse or horse team.  Lumber that didn't meet "grade" was discarded.  Wasteful and manpower intensive, but simple.

Return of our Lake Sawyer Feathered Friends

As Thanksgiving approaches, we are beginning to see quite a number of our feathered friends at Lake Sawyer.  Some, like bald eagles, pied-billed grebes, ring-necked ducks, bufflehead, hooded mergansers and cormorants often winter-over here (I've seen each of these so far this year).  Ospreys will soon join them.  Others, like common mergansers, coots, western grebes, wood ducks, gadwalls, wigeons, teals, northern shovelers, golden-eyes and pintail ducks generally pass through heading south after a short rest.  And of course, we have our year-round resident great blue herons, Canadian geese and kingfishers.  If only we could induce the geese to migrate south.

Following are some photos from last week.

Also saw a juvenile eagle making the rounds yesterday.  With their old nest in Lake Sawyer Park badly damaged in past storms, let's keep an eye out for where they might build another nest or repair the old.  

These cute little pied-billed grebes are great fishermen and we see them diving near our dock year after year.

This male hooded merganser was hanging out with a group of ring-necked ducks at the south end of the lake.  The following shows a ring-necked duck on takeoff followed by his/her buddy merganser.

This time of year, you will often find a heron standing atop the outlet weir in the morning hours.  

The above photo was taken at Nisqually showing the bird's reflections.  Still working on getting a good recent shot of our Lake Sawyer herons.

More reflections taken at Lake Sawyer park of Mr. & Mrs. ring-necked ducks along with more heron reflections that follow.

It's a fun time of year for birders.

 

A Washington Toothpick

When loggers made the move west from the depleted forests of Wisconsin and Michigan to take on the massive fir, hemlock, spruce and cedar forests of the northwest, communication between those still in the Midwest and those now here in Washington could get a little raunchy.  I can hear it now (censored version):  "My logs are bigger than your logs."  "Your logs are no more than toothpicks compared to mine."  "Want to see one of my toothpicks from here in Washington?."

Image courtesy Library of Congress, Lot 4474, circa 1907

Logs in Washington sure were bigger than those in the upper Midwest.  The log these guys are sitting on is by no means the biggest found here.  Even more impressive was how tall they grew.  The log shown above must be over 100' long and still 6' or more in diameter at the top.  Big toothpicks indeed!

Puget Sound Salmon Harvest - Then and Now

It comes as no surprise that current salmon harvest levels in Puget Sound are but a fraction of what they once were.  According to historical records, salmon catch levels in Puget Sound waters peaked at 39.6 million fish in 1913 - and this excludes ocean and Columbia River fisheries.  I keep running across historical photos that show inconceivable numbers of fish being pulled out of the water in Puget Sound.

Photo courtesy U.S. Library of Congress, circa 1902

Photo courtesy U.S. Library of Congress, circa 1902

By 1971, harvest levels had declined to 6.7 million fish, which is still a lot but a drastic decline none the less.

Source: The Salmon Processing Industry, William Jensen, Oregon State University, 1976

Today, the numbers are closer to 200,000 or fewer fish.  What has remained a mystery to me, however, is not so much the causes of decline (over fishing, pollution, habitat loss, dams and development to name but a few), but how in the world could nearly 40 million fish actually be pulled from the water and processed into edible food back then.  You certainly couldn't freeze the fish and ship them back east.  How many fishing boats pulling nets would it take?  The shear logistics seem overwhelming.  Except for one thing - 50% of the total harvest in 1917 was taken from fish traps.  They could range from as small as the basket trap shown in a stream near Auburn:

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries and White River Valley Museum, #439, circa 1923

Or, fish traps could be large "permanent" structures like the Lummi Island fish trap shown below.  Strategically located near the headwaters of streams where salmon were heading to spawn, they were very very effective.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, IND0481, Leslie Corbett photographer, circa 1911

Trolling for salmon accounted for but 3% of the total harvest during this period and gillnet fishing just 10%.  As harvest levels began to decline dramatically, it became clear that something had to be done.  Eliminating the use of fish traps was the chosen remedy.  They were far too effective.  An act of the Washington State legislature banning the use of all salmon fish traps was eventually passed in 1934.

Another factor fueling the growth of the salmon fishing industry was the Northern Pacific railroad always seeking new revenue producing cargo for shipping back east.  Low shipping rates along with the building of numerous canneries dotting the shorelines of Puget Sound did the trick.

Source: The Salmon Processing Industry, William Jensen, Oregon State University, 1976

The canneries too eventually declined in number and not surprisingly, we have no salmon canneries here today.

Sunrise at Lake Sawyer

My goodness, we've had "photographable" sunrises at Lake Sawyer for 6 out of the last 7 days - and this is November!  With morning fog drifting in and out, it has been particularly fun and challenging to capture.  In no particular order, here are a few examples.  Which one is your favorite?

Tuesday Nov. 13

Wednesday Nov. 7

Thursday Nov. 8

Monday, Nov. 12

Saturday Nov. 10

Sunday Nov. 11

 And one more from yesterday.

Not exactly tough duty getting up in the morning.  Don't forget to get your 2019 calendars.  $20 each with all proceeds benefiting the Black Diamond Community Center.  You can get them at the Smokehouse & More next to the Black Diamond bakery or let me know - I'll deliver or mail free of charge.  Tax deductible too!

Hiking To The Old Johnson Coal & Clay Mine

Picture of Gomer Evans taken on Wednesday during our hike to the old Johnson Mine

On a beautiful fall day, Keith Watson, Keith's brother, Gomer Evans, Bill Kombol and I had the opportunity to hike to the location of the old Johnson Clay Mine.  Gomer worked here during the 1950's, so we were anxious to see if we could find any remnants of the mine now located on Washington State Parks property.  It's on the south side of the Green River just east of Flaming Geyser State Park.  Thanks to Gomer's memory and the sleuthing/bushwacking skills of our team, I think that we did great and now have a pretty good understanding of how this facility all laid out - at least at the big picture level.

The old haul road that once connected the mine to SR 169 is still there.  In the picture that follows we see where the haul road decended into the area of the mine up on the ridge, about 600 feet above the river, that contained the burn pile areas, hoist, bunkers for loading mined coal and clay, the wash house etc. as sketched by Gomer in the link provided above.  We are hoping that Gomer might put together a more detailed sketch focused just on this area.

Bill Kombol gets the "discoverer" award for finding what clearly appears to be the area where coal/clay cars where hoisted up from the mine on rail to the ridge top.

The picture that follows shows just how steep this incline was for pulling cars up from the mine, which was located pretty close to water level in the river.

If you look near the top center, you will be able to see the river below - way down there.  Among Bill's discoveries was also what could have been a vent or just caved in area - big hole that went well into the hillside.  Notice the clear coal seam.

And for the last picture let me show some of the remnants pulled from the site including nuggets of clay left over from the burn piles, coal remnants and what we might best call a "klinker" that had been heated through the burn process but that contained other minerals like silica that would cause it to fuse and look "glazed" in appearance.

It appears that the best way to get there without having to cross private property is from Flaming Geyser - but I'll save that trail for another day.

Logging With Chainsaws

Is there anyone you know who just loves to cut firewood?  Buck logs into usable lengths with a handsaw and then hand split them with an ax?  Great exercise and who doesn't love to have a fire in the fireplace, especially on Thanksgiving and Christmas?  But, it's a whole nother matter when you must depend on wood to heat your home.  Pleasure soon turns to #@&%#<?&#$ and its no fun anymore.  But most early settlers to the northwest had little choice and it was cut your wood or freeze.  And neither did the logging industry.  For loggers, burning 6,000 or more calories a day swinging an ax and sawing monster logs by hand gets old after awhile.  Wouldn't it be nice to have some mechanical means to cut wood?

Well, it didn't happen overnight.  The precursor to the modern day chain saw dates all the back to 1830 or so and was developed by a German orthopedic surgeon.  Apparently cutting bones by hand wasn't much fun either.  The device was called an osteotome.  The links of the chain carried small cutting teeth with edges set at an angle.  The chain was moved around a guiding blade by turning the handle of a sprocket.  The "principle" for how to make a chainsaw was there but it took a long time to for chainsaws capable of cutting big wood to develop.  The 1920's is often cited as the time when chainsaws became more practical - brought over here from Germany.  Andreas Stihl, a familiar name even today, is typically credited with the first chainsaw patent in 1926.

The logging industry began experimenting with "chainsaws" some years earlier, not to fall timber so much as to buck logs into usable/transportable lengths once they were down.  Cedar logs were a prime target for experimentation both because of their huge diameters but also given the short lengths needed for shingle bolts.  Following is one of the early chainsaws being used to buck cedar logs on the Olympic Peninsula by the Goodyear Logging Company in 1919.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, circa 1919

As you can see, the saw was a bit of a monster itself.  It probably took two men to operate it given it's weight.  I was surprised to learn than it was also gasoline powered - gas engines like this were not known for their reliability at the time.  But, you can see that they were perfect for bucking big logs into short lengths, suitable for splitting into shingle bolts.  Stihl a lot work (pun intended).

Evolution of the Gas Pump

If you were to compile a list of the ten essentials for living in the northwest dating all the way back to the early 1900's, the gas pump would have to be high on the list.  How often do you fill up today?  Once a week or more?  It has not always been so easy.

Photo courtesy Bill Kombol and  Black Diamond History, circa 1940

The above photo shows Jack's Place service station located near the Green River Gorge.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but it appears a hand crank was still required at Jack's and even a clear glass area above the pump where you could see the gas and visibly inspect it.  Apparently getting dirt, water and other contaminants mixed in with the gas was a problem at the time and you needed to see it to be safe.  I can just imagine the variability in volumes of actual gasoline pumped per crank.  

The following graphic from SafeRack illustrates the history of pumps used over the years.  Any of these look familiar?

Image courtesy SafeRack

Standard Oil claims to have established the first ever drive in Gas Station in Seattle in 1907, though the pumps and storage must have been pretty crude.  How about an open tank for storage and you measured gas level in the tank to determine how much gas was pumped.  Smokers need not apply.   If you look at other historical photos taken in and around Black Diamond during this period, you will find virtually all of the above models used at one time or another.  Follow these links to see:

• Garretts Service Station
• Black Diamond Garage
• Lake Sawyer Grocery
• Lombardinis Market and Gas Station (courtesy Bill Kombol and Black Diamond History)

So when could you begin pumping gas yourself?  On June 10, 1964, John Roscoe flipped the switch to activate the first remote access self service pumps in the U.S.  And the rest as they say is history - except in Oregon.

Steam Donkeys that Walk

The McDougal and Bilodeau Lumber Company was based in nearby Ravensdale and logged at Landsburg Sections 18 & 19 during the period 1910 thru 1912.  This was a time when steam donkeys and high lead logging were still early in their development.  One innovation, however, that appears to have come early was providing the ability for steam donkeys to "walk".  In the photo that follows of one of McDougal-Bilodeau's donkey engines, see if you can identify how it was able to walk.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, CUR839, Asahel Curtis photographer, circa 1911

As you can see, this was no small operation.  Note the skids that serve as the base structure for the boiler and gear.  It provided the capability to be drug along from one yarding location to another.  I'm not sure how many months they might spend at one yarding site, but it couldn't have been more than several months before they needed to move on following where timber was being cut.   Rather than require real donkeys or teams of oxen or horses to move the sled, all the crew had to do was attached their cables to the base of a tree closer to where they needed to be.  With all the power of the steam engine, they could then just drag themselves on up to where they needed to be.  A slow ride to be sure, but certainly beats the alternative.

Whistlepunks

Logging in the pacific northwest seems to have spawned a language of its own.  Where else could you find Donkey Punchers, Choker Setter, Chasers, Bull Cooks, Widow Makers and of course Whistlepunks.  What in the world is a Whistlepunk?  It's certainly not a name or job that connotes someone held in particularly high esteem - and they weren't.  Low man (boy) on the totem pole is more like it, yet the function they performed was vital to logging operations and to the safety of every man on the crew.  The advent of high lead logging solved many problems for loggers but created many others, with communication at or near the top of the list.  Steam donkeys and spar trees were located where their myriad of cables could be used to haul logs from where they had been felled and bucked to a central yard where they could also be used for loading railcars and eventually log trucks too.  The problem being that there was no easy way for a donkey engine operator (donkey puncher) to communicate with logging crews some distance away and often out of sight.  This was long before radios became an option.

The solution: string wire, like that used for telegraphs, from the donkey to the crew.  A donkey puncher could use a whistle to signal crews but crews also needed to be able to communicate back and that was the responsibility of Whistlepunks.  If you look at photos of donkey engines during this period, you find big steam powered "Tootsie whistles" prominently on display.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, AWC8334, circa 1917

Here's a closer look at the whistle located right alongside the smoke stack.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, AWC8318, circa 1917

In time, virtually all logging operations were using this form of communication with crews in the woods.  However, turnover of manpower was high and it didn't make sense for every company to have their own unique whistle code and in 1930, the Pacific Logging Congress adopted a universal Whistle Signal Code.

Why turn over responsibility for this vital function to some young kid wet behind the ears and call him a Whistlepunk rather than use a highly experienced logger?  It might be for the same reason that I'm still texting with one finger and making lots of mistakes while my grandchildren can crank out message after message in no time.

 

Choker Setter - Dangerous Job

It's not often in industry where the most dangerous jobs are also entry level positions.  You would think that new "green" hires needed some time to learn the ropes so to speak, especially in cases where safety risks are the highest.  But no, not in the logging industry in the northwest in the early 1900's.  This was a period of major change and progress in the industry.  High lead logging was the future.  The days of using teams of oxen or horses to drag logs out of the woods and along skid roads to streams and mills were numbered.  Wood powered steam donkeys arrived on the scene, providing real power that began at last to match the size of timber we have in the northwest.  Spar trees and cables rigged for handling these monster logs greatly increased log handling capability and efficiency.  Falling trees and bucking logs into transportable lengths still required high levels of skill and experience to be good at it.  But, someone was still needed to climb over all these logs and string cables around them as "chokers" so that donkey power could then be used.  These jobs became known as Choker Setters and these were the low men on the totem pole.  What you needed was lots of agility and no fear, doing what you were told to do by those with the saws or on the donkey..

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, CKK1000, Clark Kinsey photographer, n.d.

The above photo and the one that follows are from Weyerhaeuser's Camp 4.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, CKK0992, Clark Kinsey photographer, n.d.

Logs might be lying on the ground but that doesn't mean they were stable.  One little movement caused by a cable or connection could easily trigger a log to move unexpectedly and if you were on the ground, you could be easily squished - and many were.  Cables and cable fittings also could snap or slip out of place.  Watch out and be prepared to duck.  Which is better, being beheaded or squished?  I'm not trying to be funny about this but rather communicate just how dangerous choker setter jobs could be.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, Lee Pickett photographer, circa 1913

Just look at the size of those fittings.  As time went on, the dangers of being a choker setter, if anything, increased.  Improvements to cable systems and donkey engines increased the range they could operate in.  This meant that Donkey Punchers (donkey engine operators) were often located where they couldn't see a crew's loggers and choker settings or were too far away to communicate.  The last thing you want is for a donkey puncher to begin moving cables while choker setters were still in the process of rigging.  Or perhaps pulling in the wrong direction and dragging logs over choker setters.  Lots could go wrong and it would be many years before radio communication became a reality in the woods.  More about this and Whistlepunks in a future post.

 

Donkey Punchers

Looking for a safe and cushy job in a logging operation early in the 20th century?  Why not become a donkey puncher?

Image courtesy Library of Congress, Darius Kinsey photographer, circa 1901

As steam "donkey" engines and high lead logging practices transformed the timber industry in the northwest, becoming the operator of a steam donkey was a job in high demand.  In time, these jobs became known as "donkey punchers", I guess because their job was akin to punching donkeys to get them to do what you wanted.  When I look at the above photo taken in 1901, I still can't believe donkey engines of the time were able to move logs around like the one wrapped in cable above.  Were donkey punchers the safest jobs in the woods?  Not by any means.

Steam donkeys had a habit of starting fires and blowing up on you.  Cables were also not all that reliable and when one broke or a fitting snapped, look out for lethal cables flying.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, Lee Russel photographer, circa 1941

Still, most steam donkeys had roofs over your head and you were warm and out of the wet.  And a heck of a lot easier on your body compared to the daily physical exertion of falling trees, trimming limbs, bucking logs or being a "choker setter" connecting all the cables to logs for yarding and loading.  These were all dangerous jobs and donkey punchers were not immune from daily risk.

Looking at the Lee Russel photo above, taken in 1941, there appears to be little change between donkey engines used in 1900 and 40 years later.  Wood fueled steam power was replaced by diesel but there seems to be little else.  But "gyppo" loggers like the one shown didn't always use the most modern of equipment either.

2019 Calendars

Yeah, 2019 calendars are now available for purchase ($20 each) with all (100%) proceeds benefiting the Black Diamond Community Center.  Initial reviews are "awesome".  

Calendars are now available in Black Diamond at the Smokehouse and More next door to the Black Diamond Bakery or directly from yours truly and I am happy to mail or deliver free of charge.  Photos included this year are from around the state and include plenty of mountain pics, wildlife and fun landscapes.

Give me a call or text me at 253-405-6564.  They make great Christmas gifts and benefit a good cause.  All checks should be made out to the Black Diamond Community Center and are tax deductible.  Thanks for your help in reaching out a helping hand to those in need in our community.  Get yours early before we run out!

Hiking to Comet Falls

Although many of the roads are now closed in Mount Rainier NP and you will find snow at Paradise, there is still time to do some hiking at lower elevations - such as the trail to Comet Falls.  As the days cloud over, it can be a good time to visit some of your favorite waterfalls.  According to Waterfalls Northwest, Comet Falls ranks as the 8th "best" waterfall in the northwest, including Washington, Oregon and northern Idaho.  Why does it get ranked so high?  A whole lot of water falls (no pun intended) and it has a 462' drop in three sections with the biggest 392' among the farthest drops in our state.  The trailhead at an elevation of about 3,600 feet is well below the snowline for now and to the falls, you climb 1,250 to 4,875, which was right at current snow levels.  Just some traces. Here's a view from the base of the falls.

As you can see, it was overcast but not raining.  Perfect, but....  There was plenty of mist blowing around which makes it a challenge keeping your lens clear, especially for long exposures.  The exposure I used for the photo above was 1/60th of a second and I was able take the shot hand held and protect my lens from the mist.  With my camera mounted on a tripod, I was able to slow the shutter speed down even more, to 2 seconds.  The effect is to "feather" the falls while keeping the background in focus.

Too much mist on my lens in these conditions to get a really clear photo with a 2 second exposure. 

The hike to the falls is 3.8 miles round trip with 1,250 feet of elevation gain and some stair climbs along the way.  The good news is that there is a lot to see along the trail both going up and going down.  For a change, following are some pics taken on the way back down.

As you can see, there are three tiers to Comet falls, two including one at the top and this third tier as the stream levels out some.  Note the snow - easily navigated.

Before you reach Comet falls, there are several other falls to see, including this one, just before you climb over the ridge to get your first view of Comet falls.  Here, you cross a bridge and see water cascading down what is called Bloucher Falls.

Continuing on down the trail, there are easily 6 to 10 places where you can get some pretty neat views.  Some are close ups.

Some views are a little further away.

Water everywhere.

And just before you get back to the trailhead, you cross a bridge with a great view of Christine Falls.  You can also see this falls just off the road as you head on up toward Paradise.

Great way to spend a day when the sun and mountain are hiding.

 

 

No Parking

I think this might have been a no parking zone?

Oops

A Days Work (or two or three)

The western red cedar shown in the photograph below measured 76 feet in circumference 18 inches above ground.  It's hard to believe that these loggers chose to take this big boy down.  It was another time and another era.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, Darius Kinsey photographer, circa 1906

Loading this on a rail car or trying to drag it through the woods on a skid road pulled by teams of oxen or horses would have been impossible.  More likely than not, cedar bolts would have been bucked and split in the woods and drug to a shingle mill using a sled.

How would you like to have the task of bucking this log.   It's not as big as the one shown above, but still - how long would it take three men to buck this log into manageable sizes for transport to a mill?

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, Darius Kinsey photographer, circa 1899

At first, because of their relatively long hair, I thought this crew might be all female, but not.  Certainly longer hair that was typical in the woods at the time.  As noted on the photo, this log was being bucked to the lengths needed for shingle bolts. 

Here's a sled "fully loaded" with bolts - 124 of them ready to be split.

Family picture day.

 

Logging Camp Circa 1905

Darius Kinsey and brother Clark Kinsey captured some amazing photos in the early 1900's of life in a logging camp.  This is one of Darius Kinsey's best.  Still using teams of horses to drag logs out of the woods on a skid road.  Once they got to camp, logs were then dumped into rivers and streams or loaded on rail cars and transported to sawmills.

Photo courtesy Darius Kinsey, Library of Congress, circa 1905

Kinsey's photography practice at the time was to hitch a ride on a logging railroad and then set up shop in camp.  This photo was likely taken on a Sunday picture day.  Once Kinsey developed his photos, he printed some and took them back to the camps, where he sold them to the loggers and that's how he made his money.  The loggers had something neat to show their families and Kinsey had additional photos he could use for sale at his in-town shop.

Families sometimes made it to camp too, staying a day just like Kinsey or staying a few weeks in the summer.  On these family occasions, Kinsey had even more subjects to photograph.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, Darius Kinsey photographer, circa 1905

What a pose.

Hiking to Blue Lake

Where are your favorite places to go hiking in the Cascade mountains of Washington?  Mt. Rainier National Park, Chinook Pass corridor, Snoqualmie Pass corridor or maybe Stevens Pass?  How can you beat the Enchantments or the Alpine Lakes Wilderness areas?  Well, you can't but then you can't leave out Heather-Maple Pass Loop and Blue Lake along the North Cascades Highway either - especially in the fall when larch begin to turn yellow and shed their needles.  Though we had already visited Blue Lake earlier this summer and it was a bit late for larch, I headed up to Blue Lake last week to get a last look before the snows came.  First views of the lake always make me smile.

Certainly one of the better lakes for reflections that you'll find.  Sheltered by the surrounding peaks, there are still traces of snow from last winter.  A few larch still showing off their colors too.  In an attempt to protect the lake from the impact of man, significant areas along the shoreline have been roped off limits - particularly those areas right on the lake shore.  However, National Park Service staff this year added a short loop trail on the west side of the lake, providing access to a mountain tarn surrounded by larch.

You might note that the tarn was frozen over and a few traces of snow from a week or so ago remain on the ground up here.  Looking back down over the ridge at Blue Lake offers some neat views.  No trail to this higher view point but a reasonably easy scramble from the tarn to gain another few hundred feet of elevation.

Back down on the trail, quite a few larch still showing their colors.

Though there were perhaps a couple dozen hikers, they seemed to stay clustered at the north end of the lake - avoiding the tarn loop trail and perhaps the best view of all from the south end of the lake.  I must have hung out on a rock formation just a foot or two above the lake for an hour or more and I had it all to myself.  An easy side trail takes you down to this vantage point off the loop trail.

Incredible place.  Just 4.4 miles round trip, excluding the tarn loop trail and scrambles, and just over 1,000 feet of elevation gain.  If you haven't been there, this is a must do hike and accessible for most of us.  The trailhead is also easy to find with excellent signage and located just west of the Washington Pass summit along the North Cascades highway.

 

Telephone Poles Circa 1899

According to HistoryLink.org, Sunset Telephone Company first began providing telephone exchange service in Seattle on March 7, 1883.  The service included 90 subscribers, most of them businesses.  Though the technology was then available, it took lots of money, both to establish the service and for subscribers to pay for it all.  Consider all the infrastructure that would be needed.  Not just lots of telephone wire but those big telephone poles necessary to string the wire from one street to another to another.  Plenty of miles of roads to string wire along even back then (and no cell phone towers).  Ever wonder where they got those poles necessary to provide service and what they looked like?

Photo courtesy Washington State Digital Archives, Darius Kinsey photographer, circa 1899

Not only are these poles long, but look at the pointed ends.  How in the world would you transport these poles and then install them?