This appears to be the remains of the bridge I crossed years ago. About a quarter mile downstream from where it once was.
To access the site, you turn south off of Hwy 26 onto Wheeler Road about 10.5 miles west of the tunnel on route 26. This well-graded gravel road goes another 11.6 miles to the now-missing bridge across the Salmonberry River. The road changes names to Wheeler Cutoff Road and then Wheeler Pond Road and finally to Beaver Slide Road. It’s all good except the final 1.3 miles: Much of that part is a 20% grade, sometimes even more. 4WD recommended!
An interesting sight along the way. This is at a spot where the road crosses an old RR grade. This is 14 feet up these trees.
We made it past the big water bars, and occasional big rocks to arrive at the bottom of the canyon - hoping we would be able to get back out later.
Looking back at the tunnel the Beaver Slide Road crosses over:
This would be Matt’s new pup’s first off-trail hike. There were a few spots with major washouts along the RR line that Matt worried his dog might not be able to climb. At 65 lbs. we hoped Archie could handle it since he would be a chore to lift up. As it turned out, he was more than able, and a delight to hike with.
Starting out along the RR grade:
The Salmonberry River railroad line we used to access the steam donkey was built from 1906 to 1911 and must have been constantly rebuilt and repaired given the erratic nature of the river and the very deep, steep and unstable canyon it was built in. The line was active until the first few days of Dec. 2007 when a major wind and rainstorm wiped out trestles and bridges and did other major damage. I well remember the night of Dec. 2/3, 2007, as I was on a Hawaiian Air 767 on the way back from Maui at the height of the windstorm and the jet had to use the very short landing strip used only for high south winds. It was a very steep descent and a rough landing at about midnight. I think that was when the big slide occurred on the south slope of Greenleaf Peak. But that is another story.
Southern Pacific still owns the line but so far, hasn't decided to either officially abandon it or spend many millions to rebuild it. Except for the RR grade itself, this area is entirely state-owned land.
More views along the grade:
The first tunnel we encountered:
Spooky!
This does not look safe:
This looked even less safe. Matt challenged me to see if I could walk the rail. I declined.
Nice fall color!
It was 43 degrees with wet foliage as we started out. After hiking for an hour or so, and just a few feet up the hill from the RR line the east wind started blowing and it was dry and twenty degrees warmer. The hills are super steep here so we were happy to have an abundant supply of sword ferns to grab hold of to get us up the hill. Archie didn’t have any problems with this, to both Matt’s and my delight.
Nestled into these hundred-year-old trees, the donkey is not easily visible until you are almost on top of it. Its rusty brown patina blends in with its surrounding very well. It looked like most of the donkey was there with a few parts missing. It appears to have been partially salvaged, but most is still there. The only really big piece we noticed missing was the main part of the “dunce cap” chimney. More on that later.
Success at last:
Wow! is this serious rust, or what!?
Matt had been here earlier in the year and prepared this sign to hang on the donkey:
We enjoyed lunch, took a bunch of photos and then went farther up the hill to take a look at the water tank used to feed the boiler. Having satisfied our curiosity, we headed back down. Instead of the long traverse on the steep slope we came in on, we decided to head directly back on a ridge. Hoping we wouldn’t get cliffed out. We followed the path of least resistance and ended up in a steep stream canyon littered with devil’s club and other delightful obstacles. Then, about 600 feet downhill from the donkey, we spotted the rest of the “dunce cap” chimney! These chimneys were often not salvaged with the donkeys as they weren’t much valued for scrap. They litter the gorge and Larch Mt., but I’ve usually found them near remains of donkey parts and skids, so this was a surprise. We took a few photos and continued back, happy to get back to relatively flat ground.
On the way up the slope to find the water tank:
The water tank, located a few hundred feet up the hill and in a stream channel:
Here's that elusive chimney we found on the way back down:
I think I’ll go back again and walk more of the old RR line and see what else I can find. There are at least 7 more tunnels and who knows how many trestles and bridges, so it promises to be a great adventure.
3.5 miles, but felt like 10+, 550' EG, hike # 112
I'm curious, please post pics of your trip.