James sparked my interest telling me about this hike because we were going to a ghost town...how cool is that?
Hike Info: Monte Cristo is located in eastern Snohomish County, in Western Washington. In the 1890's, it was believed that this little mining camp would become the greatest lead-silver district in the Western Hemisphere. Of course they were wrong; Monte Cristo's popularity only lasted about 7 years, then it became a tourist attraction...that slowly fading away too. But lucky for us, it is still a great place to hike to!
The hike is about 8 miles in total and a 700ft climb. That day it was 18.5 degrees Celsius/65.3 degrees Fahrenheit, and overcast with slight misty rain. (We thought it was perfect weather! Not too hot, not too cold, and a little mist to cool us down!)
Backpack included: 5 diapers, wipes, desitin, diaper bags, baby food, baby mum-mum cookies, formula, 2 hand towels, granola bars, apples, 2 bottles of water (that was heavy), and subway sandwiches (didn't have any bread that morning to pack our own). The weight of the pack was quite heavy...
Our Story...
We had a rocky start. I thought it would be a good idea to try to teach James how to drive a standard...it wasn't; 3 blocks later, I had to take over...James got in a bad mood...it was my fault :-0
Once we finally got to Barlow Pass to start our hike, things were much better! We had food in our bellies and were ready to start. The trail was beautiful: Tall trees, beautiful mountain views, and it followed the Sauk River. We had to cross the river in order to continue our hike. We soon found out that the bridge was washed away. A large log replaced the bridge. When we crossed over the log, all I could think about was how I hoped it wouldn't rain too much because it would get super slippery. The last thing I wanted was to fall into the icy river on the way back to the car.
Continuing on the trail, a bunch of kids and parents passed us...already finishing up their hike; we were late starters. Seeing them made me think, it must be an easy hike right?! We were deceived by the elevation of the hike. James originally told me we were only going up 100 ft, so I was thinking YAY! What an easy start to this hiking thing he wants me to do!!! Nope- he had this hike confused with another, so instead of the wishful 100ft elevation, it was 700 ft. Once we got to mile 3 of the hike, I kinda gave up on carrying the backpack; I felt like my shoulders were going to fall off. James was nice enough to take the backpack and carry Emily :)
For the bathroom users, there are only 2 out-houses on this hike. You better know how to squat if you can't hold it! For the guys, you've always had it easy! The second bathroom was full of flies, and apparently people must have done this enough to get a sign put up saying, "Please do not dump your garbage into this toilet." Hmmmm...squatting from now on.
Entering Monte Cristo, we passed another bridge; this one wasn't a log :) The view was spectacular! The town itself was unique. I don't know why I was expecting a town with houses falling apart and a pub with those swinging doors, but I was; and for some reason I was surprised to only see a few locked up houses and a train turn-rail. But all in all, it was still pretty amazing to find quite a few houses completely in tact. There was once a lodge there to, but apparently it burnt down. We had our Subway sandwich lunch. I was actually more excited to drink our water than eat. There was a sense of peaceful tranquility in the air. I decided to lay down for a few minutes...did I ever feel stiff when I got back up; the tranquility vanished with the realization it was another 4 miles back.
The hike back was quite a bit faster. Since we were going mainly downhill, it only took 2 hours as opposed to the 3 hours hiking up.
What I learned:
1. Don't try to teach the husband how to drive a standard on the way to the trail.
2. Pack less...we didn't need so many diapers and clothes.
3. My dad pointed out it would be a good idea to let someone know where we were just in case of emergency. (I will do that next time)
4. I might want to invest in some bear spray.
Hike Summary
Difficulty: medium
Time length: up to 5 hours
Scenic: YES
Children accessible: Yes...but I think any child under 10 will get pretty tired ( I did see kids hike and they looked 10ish)
My RANKING for the hike to Monte Cristo: PRETTY COOL!!!
James' friend wanted us to write a haiku for every hike we did. Here is our first one:
A long winding trail
deceptive arduous climb
beware the log bridge.
James, Emily and Vanny at the start of our trip
Just part of the scenery :)
This picture does no justice!
This is me and my dog Vanny, happy to have made it to Monte Cristo!
The log bridge.
The lodge that burnt down.
Emily and I happy to be resting...well Emily is happy to be out of her carrier!
More views, with Vanny, of course ;)
