I'm sure many of you can relate when I say that it's difficult to condense a fun-filled day of exploring into just a few photos and words. This last Saturday I set out to photograph an epic staircase, got curious, and then followed my explorer senses right into additional surprises.
The day started as any PNW day should start: intermittent raining, foggy, cool. We passed thru the sleepy "town" and parked along the forest service road. Already impressed by the first view of the pipeline, we climbed the hill and discovered our first set of buildings.
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The fog loomed heavy over us. Intrigued by the small ladder, we descended and climbed on the nearby roof to get a better view.
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It was impressive.
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After a minute of absorbing the view, we knew we had to go down and experience it firsthand.
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After glimpsing the powerhouse and unsuccessfully checking a few entry points, we climbed back. My exploring buddy and I both used to live in Seattle and run the Eastlake Staircase (311 steps). We tried to use this as an estimate and generously guessed this staircase was about double.
The descent didn't seem particularly difficult, but gravity only works in one direction. At 666 steps I realized we were mistaken.
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It was exactly 992 steps from the bottom. And if you count the 8 steps between the two buildings at the top, it makes an even 1000 that I highly doubt was coincidental.
We made a friend on the way to check out the concrete tower on the other side of the hill.
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Returning to our car, we still wanted more. And we were curious enough to see where the pipeline led. So we continued further on the forest roads.
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We came to the first of 2 reservoirs that feed into the waterway.
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On the way to the 2nd reservoir, we saw houses thru the trees. I got excited, and my co-pilot sarcastically grinned at me, asking if I had planned this all along. Nope, I genuinely had no idea. So we parked again and trekked down to explore mostly dilapidated, scrapped, and graffiti-ed cottages. I challenged myself to take the cleanest-looking photos possible.
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We passed over the pipeline to find a barn in very good condition with hay that looked damn near newly bought. It must have been stored perfectly, and then recently kicked out of the top floor by some hooligans.
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Thanks for the read! My other photos will end up in the photo-a-day/textures/lonelychair threads.