There are quite a few places to hike around here and since we had driven a ways out to Leavenworth, we wanted to hike somewhere far from Seattle that we wouldn't normally go to. We also wanted something relatively easy.

We decided to hike the Iron Goat Trail, which we had attempted to hike in May last year but were stopped by snow on the trail.

The trail follows an old rail line, which was hazardous and regularly interrupted by avalanches for the time it was operational. This rail line was no longer used once a 7.8 mile tunnel (the longest in the US) was constructed along an alternate route in 1929.

Since the trail follows a rail line, it was pretty straight and relatively flat. There's an upper grade and a lower grade and we walked along both. Crossing from the lower grade to the upper grade was a bit difficult. Otherwise, the trail was pleasant and had neat historical artifacts, including a few sections of very old tunnel, some of which had collapsed due to falling rock above.

The weather was surprisingly cool. It was sunny with temps in the upper 70s in Leavenworth, which was just 42 miles east, but after we crossed over Stevens Pass, it became cloudy, and temperatures along the hike were in the lower 50s.

We ended up hiking for almost 3 hours, but despite Lesley's sore feet, it sure felt great to be hiking again in such a beautiful area.