Monthly Archives: August 2012

Abandoned antiques

These are the two oldest cars I know of still sitting and rotting in the Middle Fork. Most of the junkers have been hauled out, but these are not very accessible. With help from experts at nwhikers.net I was able to get probable model identification leading to photos of what these cars looked like in their prime. Not that they looked that way when driven into the Middle Fork, because as stated by a valley veteran “Some logger/miner/decrepit somebody just drove an ol’ junker ’til it died, then they just left them. Then maybe somebody shoved the junk out of the way.”

1938 Plymouth 4-Door Touring Sedan

1938 Plymouth 4-Door Touring Sedan

1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe

1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe


1938 Plymouth Touring Sedan grill

1938 Plymouth Touring Sedan grill

1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe

1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe


1938 Plymouth 4-Door Touring Sedan

1938 Plymouth 4-Door Touring. From Wikipedia

1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe

1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe. From myoldpostcards

The left car is below the road near the Big Snow trail head. The right one is just across Granite Creek where the overgrown logging/mining road cuts back and up to the Horseshoe Mine site.

Mailbox parking lot

DNR begins construction of the new Mailbox Peak parking lot.

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Building a solid shoulder for 2 lane access to the parking lot


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Many trucks coming and going


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Later the same day the shoulder has been built up to the level of the former single-lane road


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View toward the new Mailbox parking area

Granite Lakes road-to-trail

The Granite Lakes road-to-trail conversion is underway, with work currently being done on the road segment between the Granite Lakes fork and where the Thompson Lake trail took off. A large excavator is digging up the old road bed and removing culverts, leaving a roughed-in trail instead of a road. It will take a number for years for vegetation to re-establish itself along this trail, but it’s currently mostly willows and slide alder that will come back fast.

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Segment being converted

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Fresh road-to-trail conversion

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​Large excavator used for heavy work

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Green carpet underneath alders