Situated between Carbonado and Fairfax in Pierce County, is a pleasant hike along the Carbon River leading to the former home of the Melmont coal mine. The town of Melmont was founded in 1900 and produced coal for the Northern Pacific Railroad between 1902 and 1918. The local economy disintegrated around this time when the…
Author: Dark Star Foto
Fort Casey
We took a trip over Deception Pass to Whidbey Island two weeks ago and spent the evening exploring Fort Casey. Constructed in the late 1800s, the fort was part of a three fort defense system for the entrance to the Puget Sound (along with Fort Worden and Fort Flagler) and was known as the “Triangle…
Oyster Dome
We took a trip up to Blanchard Hill for the first time in about 20 years and got some great exercise and some beautiful photos while hiking up to the Oyster Dome. Our pedometers clocked in a little over 5 miles by the end of the trip from Samish Overlook to the Oyster Dome and…
Oso Slide Memorial
While we were out for our day trip to Whitehorse Trail and Fortson Mill last October, we visited the Oso Slide Memorial, where the tragic 2014 mudslide occurred in Oso, Washington. There were beautiful tributes to the community of Steelhead Haven, who had so suddenly lost everything on the morning of March 22nd, 2014. It…
Fortson Mill
Check out some recent uploads from a trip out to Fortson Mill we took back in October. The mill was established in 1905 and the town that formed around it was named Fortson in 1923. The town flourished until the mill was sold in 1954 and operations relocated to Darrington. See more at Ghost Towns…
AHS Graduating Class of 2020
A wonderful tribute in Arlington, WA to celebrate our 2020 graduates! Since the beginning of the lock down orders in late March, our high school seniors have had so many milestone life events slip by. The biggest event of all was the culmination of all their hard work with their education that began over twelve…
Franklin Ghost Town
We made it out again for another adventure over the weekend to visit the Franklin Ghost Town. Tucked away by the Green River near Black Diamond, this site was once home to a small mining town in the late 1800’s. For more information and directions to this historic site, be sure to check out the…
Northern State Ghost Town
Formerly known as the Northern State Mental Hospital or simply as the Northern State Recreation Area on Google Maps, this historic site in Sedro-Woolley is a must see! It truly feels like walking through a “ghost town” and we definitely got the tingles walking through some of the old run down buildings. The buildings were…
Centennial Trail
A nice day out on Centennial trail up in the Arlington, WA section of the trail. We go out here often for bike rides, longboarding, and walks. As the weather has gotten better during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, people are starting to head out here in decent numbers to get some exercise and just to…
Boulder River Trail
We made it out for a fun hiking adventure by Boulder River, located near Darrington, Washington. This trail wasn’t too populated when we went out, but this was just as trails were becoming open to the public mid May during the 2020 pandemic lock downs. It was an overcast day with occasional drizzle from above,…