The major goal today is an abandoned tunnel in Johnson Canyon on a disused section of the BNSF railroad. This section was used heavily betwen 1890 and 1962 and it was considered strategic enough that during World War 2 a few men were stationed at the tunnel to protect it from sabotage. We park near the former Welch station, not much is left besides the concrete foundation.
From here the plan is to follow the railroad grade to the tunnel, a hike of about 3 miles. Given that it is railroad grade it also means that it is relatively flat and easy to follow.
There are other railroad remnants to see along the road as we make our way through the canyon, including a few bridges that are still standing even without maintenance for years.
Tunnels are quite expensive so whenever possible when building the track they cut through the hills making for some impressive rock cuts that are still usable as we continue on.
There are expansive views all around us with only the electricity wires hinting that we are relatively close to civilization.
Surprisingly many parts of the trail seem to be maintained more recently than 1960, we like that especially during rock cut section and when we wak on the narrow path between cliffs on one side and the canyon on the other.
The path is actually not that narrow most times, it is more like a one lane road but still sometimes there are holes in the road and the cliffs can get quite imposing.
Whenever we look back we see how far we walked so where is this fabled tunnel?
And then we notice it in the distance and soon we are at the entrance, now the big question, can you pass through it?
And yes you can, it seems like only yesterday someone cleaned it up, it feels like you could easily use it to drive through it. We notice the steel ceiling, the reason for it is that in late 19th century a fire burned the wooden ceiling killing multiple railway workers so they rebuilt with steel for safety.
On the other side we look for the cache, this area looks less maintained on more wild but still you could continue if so desired.
We however have to return as it is getting dark and there is a difficult section of road before the interstate. At least we see quite a few birds, most of them kinglets but also jays, woodpeckers and of course ravens. And right next to the car we also see a herd of deer running away, or maybe levitating, who knows? We make it back to the interstate before it gets completely dark and then back to the AirBnB for our last night in the area.
