Melmont Ghost Town — Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

Set out on the trail head around 1030 Sunday morning. The trip down the side of the bridge was steep so be careful. The trail itself looked to be an old logging road that heads North/South beneath the Fairfax bridge. Headed South away from the bridge and came upon the remnants of a wall with mossy overgrowth. The wall viewed from the trail is six maybe seven feet tall from the ground, however if one were to circle down to the bottom (Another steep climb) they would find the wall being twice that height with portholes (possibly for lights?) carved into the side. Continuing south one comes upon the Powder House (Or Dynamite Shack), it's still in rough standing shape with a few missing stones taken from the walls. Back onto the trail there is a fork, the trail leading up to the left I'm told heads towards the school house, (A later fact I regret not going to because the pictures look awesome!) Keep to the right to head into Melmont. Stay on the trail and continue on the right whenever the option presents itself. Eventually the trail circles around into the south side of the town site. Here one can see plenty of raised lumps in square positions laid out into a "Town". Two more trails leading off of this, one leads to another wall directly south of the site, the other leads to an established camp site; When we where there plenty of beer cans, makeshift targets, and ammunition casings littered the campsite. The fire pit and benches are still present, however the tarp that presented a makeshift windbreak didn't last through the winter. All in all a really easy and good hike for a Sunday morning. The trail itself was beautiful with plenty of clear water streams cascading down. However, this abundance of water leaves deep pockets of mud on the trail (Ankle-Deep pockets). The town site was generally clear of debris, aside from the flipped over half cab of an old truck. The only other litter and debris found on the hike was located in the actual campsite itself.