A combination of sore toes and bad weather have kept me off the trail since I returned from Ireland but yesterday I gingerly put a toe (so to speak) back into the hiking world by doing a little Christmas Lake hike prior to an afternoon Cedar River Watershed Education Center (CRWEC) tour of the former town of Cedar Falls.
The tour was great. It was a short one, only 2 hours, and we didn’t go far. The former town of Cedar Falls is only a short distance from the Education Center, but we (about 17 of us, plus Anna and Julie, our guides and drivers) climbed into two vans for the short trip down the road.
Cedar Falls was created as a company town in the early 20th century to house the workers and their families who tended to the power generating equipment in the watershed that sent power to Seattle. In addition to power, of course, the watershed sent water to Seattle. Following the devastating fire of 1889, made worse by the lack of water and water pressure, the residents of Seattle almost unanimously agreed to get their water from 30 miles east of the city.
Cedar Falls, in addition to being a railroad stop:
… was a nice little community with tennis courts, an indoor swimming pool, a school and a great sense of community, attested to by those residents who, in later years, left oral histories. They also had what appears to be a very early version of a hot tub:
We also visited the remains of an old cabin, formerly used to house temporary watershed workers (like fire fighters). The interior held remnants of the old days:
All in all, a nice day and it felt good to get out again, even if my first hike after Ireland was very gentle. Gentle or not, I love the views you get out there such as:
Only about a 4 mile hike, not much elevation gain, and more or less aimless. The track shows a little loop:
Track
I plan to get out next week at least a couple of times and build up to a more robust experience on the trail. And, as always, hurray for the CRWEC!