Was excited to finally come here after years of seeing pics and hearing about this trail. Got here late afternoon and there were a number of people here, mostly coming back from their hike. You have to pay $5 to park in a private lot. There's a box to just drop the money in. No facilities, so make a stop before coming here.
Parking lot was pretty muddy in spots. Trail itself isn't bad unless you hike out to the cemetery then it gets tricky in spots. Took my first mud bath as a matter of fact, thank goodness for quick dry materials and a handy towel in my pack. Good to be over prepared.
Have to say I was a little disappointed that we weren't able to see more, but I suppose I have too high expectations when it comes to ghost towns lol. Couple of coal cars, one in the river and the other where the trail splits. We went down to the river and took the trail out to the cemetery. Saw a mine shaft, a foundation and just a few headstones. Cemetery was completely over grown with blackberries. There were some paths, but really couldn't see much. Headstones very old and hard to even make out some of the inscriptions. Did see a pretty awesome view of Rainier on the way up.
This was our second hike of the day and our 4 yo was pretty tired, so we never took the other fork to see what gems lied that way. Overall it was kinda cool to see what we could and cross off another hike from the list. Not sure that it's a place that I need to go back too.
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