January 26, 2019, Wellington

Wellington was a train depot at the west entrance of the old Cascade Tunnel, just west of Stevens Pass. It was the site of an avalanche disaster in 1910 that killed 96 on board a Great Northern Railway train.  I've always been curious about the event, but never made a trip to the site. I figured when I did it would be best in the winter to also ski the slide path.

The Old Cascade Highway provides bumper to bumper skiing, without the parking hassles at Stevens Pass.  I parked at the west entrance to the new Cascade train tunnel and after an hour of brisk skiing was at the old train depot at the entrance to (the now abandoned) old tunnel.

It's hard to imagine an avalanche large enough to bury a train at this spot today. In 1910, the steep hillside was bare, cleaned out by a recent fire. Today, it is thick with 100 year old trees.  I'm always amazed at the Cascades' ability to reclaim territory. Driving through mountain towns like Darrington and Marblemount, I'm struck by the notion that without constant upkeep, the forest would swallow any human structure in a decade or less.

From Wellington I toured up the steep hillside to PT 5360 for a view of the entire slide path before battling the crust back to the valley.  These are the attractive looking bowls clearly visible descending west from the pass on the highway - I'll have to return with better conditions.