Tag Archives: Tokul

Tokul Tunnel

My walk along the trail up near Snoqualmie started and ended at a road that went above the old railroad bed.  There was a small tunnel under the road.  I assume this was once a proper rail tunnel or a bridge but the tunnel that is there now looks like a more modern construction.  Even so, it is a little interesting so here are some shots of it.

Tokul Trestle Bridge

The thing that attracted me to a stroll along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail was the presence of an old railway trestle bridge.  Known as the Tokul Trestle, it seemed to be on a curve over a deep valley based on what I could see on Google Maps.  What I didn’t know was how much you could see of it from either side.  Only one way to find out I guess.

It wasn’t a terribly long walk from where I had parked the car to get to the trestle.  When you don’t know a route, it always feels a bit longer but walking back seems a far shorter journey.  Since the trestle was on a curve and the route was very tree lined, it was pretty much out of sight until I was nearly upon it.  The majority of the trestle seems pretty old but there is a center section that seems to be more modern.  Of course, that could have been there for ages and the whole bridge was maybe restored when the trail was being created.  If I had done some research, I might have been able to tell you!

The curve of the bridge is quite gradual and, as I had wondered, the approaches are tree lined which makes getting too much of an angle on the bridge tricky.  A drone would be a very handy thing for getting a broader view of the bridge or being down on the river bed below.  Not sure who owns that but there is a firing range down there somewhere which I could hear along part of the walk.  You can get down on the sides of the bridge at each end to get a bit more of a view of the structure and I did check that out.  Since I was alone in an area without much cellphone reception, though, I didn’t get too adventurous.

There is something about trestle bridges that really fascinates me.  They seem quintessentially American to me.  In the UK, rail bridges of old are either iron or brick.  They look impressive too and make for great photo subjects.  However, the trestle is something that evokes images of old steam locos crossing the country with wide flared smokestacks.  The idea that they are still around and in good working order continues to surprise me.

Lichen These Colors!

I talked about the Snoqualmie Valley Trail in an earlier post and mentioned how much lichen there is growing on the trees.  I had the longer lens with me on my walk so I tried a few things to get some shots of the patterns and textures on the branches.  I even tried focus stacking on one of them to see whether I could get more detail in to the lichen itself.  The Pacific Northwest has plenty of areas that get very damp and are almost like rainforests in their conditions.  Consequently, these lichen covered trees are easy to find.

Snoqualmie Valley Trail

I can waste a fair bit of time panning around in Google Maps looking at things I had no idea were there.  I was looking up near Snoqualmie Falls when I saw a label for Tokul Trestle.  A look around showed a trail on the track bed of a disused railroad.  The Snoqualmie Valley Trail starts down in the valley near Carnation and runs up to the town of Snoqualmie.  I had no idea it was there and will be looking at riding it at some point.  Anyway, I had a rainy Sunday and wanted to check out the falls – see another post specifically about that – and, having finished up there, I decided to take a walk along a section of the trail.  It was intermittently raining but I was dressed appropriately so took a stroll.  I did see the occasional cyclist, runner or walker but was on my own for most of the time.  It did occur to me that the foothills of the Cascades have plenty of mountain lions but they were obviously elsewhere and left me alone.

The area is quite enclosed by the trees and it is clearly a damp place given the amount of lichen growing on the trees.  That will also get another post.  It does make for some interesting colors when the light does break through, though.  The darkness of the trail contrasts nicely with the greens of the lichen as the sun catches it.  Sections of it feel like you are walking through a tunnel.  (There is an actual tunnel too but, you’ve guessed it, more of that another time.)

I look forward to getting to explore this trail in more detail.  A bike seems like the best bet for checking it all out but there are a few trailheads along the way so driving up and walking along it will be a good option.