Parking area at Cochran Old Grader at Cochran Road crossing the tracks at Cochran (Standard Grade Road) Looking easty from Cochran Looking west from Cochran Beaver dam at Cochran (notice the rail in the foreground) Old Mill at Cochran Pond One of the MANY downed trees along the tracks Milepost 801 - 1 mile down! We noticed this kind of track is on the outside of turns (see the inner beveled edge) This kind of track is on the inside of turns Old abandoned equipment - this is a "ballast regulator" It is used to smooth out the gravel (ballast) between the ties Other side of the ballast regulator Tunnel 1 These were the only bits we could find of the old "access permits" that were used when the railroad was still active. There was a little box you were supposed to put them in - kind of like the wilderness permits Back side of Tunnel 1 Milepost 802 - 2 miles down! There were lots of areas like this - plugged up culverts making water run over the tracks Pretty little trackside waterfall Trestle 1 - this is the one I slipped on a bit - the ties were a little slippery Blurry photo of trestle 2 That was a BIG rock that came down very recently Trestle 3 Old Water tank on east end of the Baldwin Creek Trestle - I think this was used for fire suppression on the trestle. The Baldwin Creek Trestle - this is over 100' up from the creek! Looking down at the support for the Baldwin Trestle - all iron The view from the middle of the trestle - view South up the Baldwin Creek drainage. Looking down from Baldwin Creek Trestle at Baldwin creek. Waterfall on Baldwin Creek? Water tank on West end of Baldwin Creek trestle Looking at the washout on the west side of Wolf Creek Washout on east side of Wolf Creek This is the slide under that washout - see the washouts on the west side of the creek Tunnel at the south end of Wolf Creek Wolf Creek Tresle Photo of structure of Wolf Creek Trestle - this one is all wood! Looking down at an old logjam from the Wolf Creek trestle Wolf Creek Wolf Creek trestle is curved Wolf Creek Washout on west side of Wolf Creek Looking up Wolf Creek Alders growing up around the tracks - there were LOTS of small alders - in the background you can see trees across the tracks. Neat little side waterfall Another washout on Wolf Creek Mile 804 - 4 miles down! Looking over to the big slide on the east side of Wolf Creek (where we were earlier) More alders and downed trees And more downed trees Imagine the carnage that took place in this canyon in 2007!!! Look at all those logs in the creek! This is looking south - up Wolf Creek Yet another washout More downed trees The track is down there somewhere..... another slide covering the tracks Another nice trackside waterfall More plugged up culverts and slide activity Some of the new alders and a BIG slide over the tracks. The beautiful Salmonberry river - this was a spot where it narrows, and get a lot faster (and louder) Another less catastrophic washout There were LOTS of logjams like this all over the river Another side waterfall - look how much it has cut the slope! An old telephone pole with the wires still on it Old rail car converted to a shop On the door of the railcar - B&B stood for "Bridge & Building" which was essentially maintenance Tunnel at Kinney Creek River bend east of Kinney Creek More river carnage - Kinney creek Kinney Creek washout West side of the Kinney creek tunnel Kinney creek washout from kinney creek (we had to go down and cross the creek to get around it) Looking back (East) at the Kinney creek washout - This was one of the tougher washouts to go around 805.82 - Almost 6 miles in - And what walkway is designated anyway? The river here turns back and forth, so we cross it once.... 805.84 - we haven't gone very far - Cross the river the second time Here is the second bridge And the third crossing of the Salmonberry in a very short span. Another big slide More big trees across the track - this is hard to see, but the tracks are supposed to go straight here - this was a HUGE slide that slid the tracks off down into the river The scale is hard to see here, but this turn is WAY too sharp for a train. This is where the tracks were pushed into the river It is kind of hard to see, but the tracks are in the background and look like shoelaces - the force it took to do this was incredible More of the big slide Another slide This is tunnel at Belding where Beaver Slide rode comes in - the road actually goes over the tunnel. The former bridge at Belding - that is Belding road on the other side - but it doesn't look like it gets much traffic - maybe some 4 wheelers is about it. The belding trailhead - you get here by coming down Beaver Slide road - This is where we had lunch - notice the chair and boot nailed to the tree. This was perhaps the longest washout - just past Belding. Notice the apparent pyramid of dirt that doesn't seem to have been disturbed. It was very odd.... You can see where the tracks pick up again in the distance. Navigating through the washout Someone has apparently "stolen" this ladder from somewhere else along the line - it looks like a ladder from a boxcar or something. It was used to get back up out of the washout section. It was very convenient. Looking up at the west end of the washout - you can also see the ladder to the right. Looking back east at the washout from the west end More detail on the ladder and how the rails were bent like banannas This was an amazing sight - we saw quite a few of these throughout the river - it is a piece of rail that is scoured clean - no rust at all. The sand and gravel in the river has acted like a sandblaster! Tunnel and bridge after the washout Not sure where this came from - looks like an old flatcar. Another tunnel - it was interesting how these tunnels were built - at each end they had steel that supported wood to keep out the dirt, etc. Some of the tunnels had shotcrete sprayed on the inside and on the steel at the ends, but the ones that didn't had cave ins as the wood is rotting and letting earth into the tunnel. One of them had a tree fall into the tunnel through the roof! Next river crossing Belding Creek bridge Someone had created this plastic wheeled "traincar" It didn't seem to work too well - the wheels were broken. This was a washout at an un-named side creek. Looks like a logjam occurred and rather than blow out the bridge, it made a new channel for the creek! Closer view of the logjam This is the channel for the creek - you can see part of the logjam to the left. Looking back at the washout Another old telephone pole Another telephone pole on the hillside and a whole hillside of little water flows. Closeup of the telephone pole There are tracks down there somewhere! This was another pretty large washout. You can see how the tracks were moved into the river when the slide occurred. A different view of the washout and slide Looking back east at the slide area. A pretty little waterfall on the opposite side of the river. Another washout where the tracks were moved into the river. You can see where they used to be on the flat section in the foreground. Milepost 808 - are we really only half way there? The milepost was attached to a telephone pole! This was an unusual washout since the side creek is so small. It looks like the river might have scoured out the bend since it takes a rather sharp turn here. Interesting how most of the ties are intact on this washout, though. The river must have been REALLY moving in 2007!!! Another long washout, but this was was easy to walk around Looks like this rail was made in 1937 Another big slide area - The alders LOVE these slides!!! Another long washout - this one we had to take a route up above the slide area to get around it. This was interesting. The ties actually made a little dam and the silt from the river piled up behind them! The track is laying vertical at this point. Milepost 810 - we are over halfway! Another ugly washout This was interesting - you could see the whole thing - it is a box culvert made entirely out of wood. There were a bunch of these and interestingly enough, we didn't see any that appeared to have failed or plugged up. All the plugged up ones were galvanized metal. The water is flowing a little bit over the top of this one only because the opening was partially covered - most of the water was flowing through the culvert. Here you can see the intake of the culvert and why it is partially covered There were quite a few pieces of rail that had been lodged against this rock. The river takes a sharp turn here, so who knows where this rail came from upstream. Here we are at Enright - a bunch of old log cars on a siding - probably 15 of them One of the two houses at Enright. Milepost 811 - only 4 (or 5) miles to go! Another milepost with the telephone wires on it. The old water tank at the west end of Enright Bridge at Tank creek. The worst of the damage is behind us at this point. A very interesting rock formation on the north side of the river. Another interesting rock formation on the north side of the river - just east of the other rock formation. Milepost 812! And LOTS of scotch broom This was an interesting piece of equipment - looks like it replaced the ties. I don't think it will be going anywhere....It was below what looks like a rock quarry, although it wasn't shown on the map. This was an unusual thing in the sky. No rain, but we saw an inverted rainbow. There didn't appear to be any moisture or anything in the air - blue sky and no mist from the river. Milepost 813 - we are almost there! It was getting late and we were getting tired. This was near the old "settlement" of Belfort. We didn't really see anything but level ground and some grass - looked like there could have been houses there at one point. Milepost 814 - a mile to go! Milepost 815 - we are almost to Salmonberry and the sun is going down.