Hike 1: Hyak to Annette Lake trailhead.

Our first five hikes will follow an abandoned railroad grade called the John Wayne Trail, through Iron Horse State Park from Hyak to Rattlesnake Lake.

Driving there:  At I-90 exit 54 (Hyak), go south.  When the road forms a T turn left and follow the signs to the parking lot.  You can buy a Discover pass at a machine in the parking lot with a credit card.  In winter the tunnel is closed.

East entrance Snoqualmie Tunnel

The Snoqualmie tunnel is 100 years old, 2.3 miles long, very dark, and always cold.  Sometimes it's windy and foggy, too.  In good weather you can see a pinpoint of light at the end, but sometimes the air gets foggy and you can't see anything.  It was one of those days, so we were in total darkness most of the way.  We took plenty of flashlights and warm clothes, so there was nothing to fear but trolls.  We made a scary video, maybe we can get Lisa to post it here.

East entrance from inside

I had been through the tunnel once before, a few months after they abandoned the rail line.  I waited until there was three feet of snow on the tracks, figuring that no train could possibly get there.  If I knew then what I know now about rotary snowplows, I wouldn't have been nearly as confident.

West entrance from inside

It's interesting to think that when you get about 2/3 of the way through the tunnel, you're about 1/4 mile below the surface of Surveyor's lake.  

Snoqualmie Tunnel West entrance

There were lots of cyclists passing through, but we only saw one other group of hikers.

At the west end of the tunnel we stopped for lunch.  It's good to be in the daylight again!  There are good views along here, even though it was a cloudy day.  Then we took a nice walk to the Annette lake trail, where we turned downhill through the trees to the trailhead where we left our getaway car. 

Side trip:  You can follow the trail uphill a few miles to Annette Lake.