Monte Cristo Ghost Town
SPOOKY!!
It was halloween time and whats better than to visit an actual ghost town?!? Nothing!
Andrew, our friend Jeremy and I made the trip down Mountain Loop Highway to get to this hike before we went to a live podcast recording with Cascade Hiker Podcast about how the North Cascades National Park was created (highly recommend a listen) at Birdsview Brewing in Hamilton, WA.
When we got to the parking area it was PACKED!! So many cars were there already and I thought we had left early! Luckily none of those people were going where we were going. Most people were probably heading in the direction of Gothic Basin or one of the other trails that branch off from the Barlow Pass parking lot. We will be back for those someday.
This hike was fairly flat. Oh what am I talking about. It was completely flat. If wide road walks aren’t your thing you might want to consider skipping this hike, but it was a nice relaxing stroll that allowed all three of us to walk together. Yay no third wheels!
We started walking about a mile on an old road until we got to the river where we picked our way across the bank (and a really slippery log) to the dilapidated bridge that used to span the water but now kind of sits on the rocky bank looking a bit lost. It was gorgeous and covered in frost crystals that I took copious pictures of (with my film camera so I won’t be able to see what they look like for a while*). Once across that we hopped across some rocks to get to the other side where another, more accurately placed, bridge led us to another old road that would ultimately take us to Monte Cristo.
Along the way we passed a few signs marking historically significant sites relating to the mines Monte Cristo serviced that have long been taken back by the forest that surround them. There were a couple roads that turned off where we were walking and would have been cool to check out where they led but we were on a semi tight schedule. Always leave a reason to come back!
We crossed another bridge at the end of the main road and we found ourselves in the middle of a couple cabins and an old rail-car turntable type device. While Andrew and Jeremy tried to turn the contraption I did some exploring of my own. I followed a little trail that led to a couple cabins tucked in the woods behind the clearing and then a bridge to even more cabin sites in various degrees of disrepair. There were even signs indicating the different streets and street names they had when the town was still inhabited. It is hard to imagine that buildings were able to be built in that area by just looking at what the landscape looks like today.
I’m not ashamed that at one point while I was solo exploring I got kind of spooked by all the collapsing cabins and the “Private Property” signs adorning them.
Andrew and Jeremy caught up to be and we took a quick gander at some of the other sites before hiking out.
I definitely want to go back someday and explore the area a bit more without a time restraint.
*Since it has taken so long for me to actually write and press the button to post this, please enjoy some of the processed film photos I took during this hike.
