Alpine Lumber Co. Logging Camp

The Alpine Lumber Company had several logging camps, there are references to Camp 1, Camp 2, and a Lower Camp. Our 1930 photo shows a couple of buildings west of Alpine, we decided to investigate.

On Sunday, September 16, we hiked along the BPA power line from Carroll Creek to the area where we suspected the camp used to be. The old railroad grade, marked with a red line on the map, was clearly visible. East of the camp the railroad grade is now a road, west of the camp it is covered with brush, nettles, and devils club.

We think the logging camp was here, the road that curves to the right is probably the old railroad grade on the map and straight ahead is another grade that heads west. Unfortunately, a creek has washed tons of gravel over the area where the camp appears to have been located, we were unable to find any debris or evidence of structures.

This is looking west from where we believe the camp was, the red line shows where the railroad came out of the woods and went west another couple of miles.

Here we are about 500 feet west of the camp standing on the old railroad grade, marked by an X on the photo. The tracks went past the BPA towers and crossed a bridge...

This is looking east, the tracks passed to the right of the BPA tower and crossed a bridge. We didn't find any remains of the bridge, there is a BPA road there now and anything that was still standing after 1930 was probably bulldozed or burned.

The original Stevens Pass Highway crossed the Tye River near here, in the afternoon we walked down to the old bridge site. In the 1930 photo we can see at least one structure near the bridge, we spent some time looking for that but did not find anything. In 1930 the road followed the Tye River west of the bridge, the river channel has changed course since then and a section of the road has washed out.

Donna is standing on the south bank of the Tye River where the Stevens Pass Highway crossed, this is looking west.

The Stevens Pass Highway, looking east. About 800 feet from here the road turned left and crossed the Tye River. Just behind me is where the road has been washed out by the river.

Keesha waiting for another pepperoni stick.

In Search Of The Lost Water Pipe

Alpine , WA. Saturday July 7 Tim and I made a trip to Alpine to look for the water intake for the Great Northern Railway 50,000 gallon water tank east of town. The tank was supplied with water from Carroll Creek using a 6" wooden pipe, we used this map as a guide:

We walked up the hill on the east side of the creek, after some heavy brushwacking we came across this artifact, the remains of a wooden pipe.

The pipe has been on the ground since probably 1920, the wood is all rotted. We did not find any surviving examples of wire wound wood pipe but our pipe probably looked like this, a six inch (inside diameter) wood pipe outside the Pickett Museum in Index.

There were quite a few sections of pipe laying on the ground downhill from the intake at the creek, apparently it was above ground near the creek and then was buried underground downhill toward the water tank. I estimate about 1000 feet of pipe was underground. Here is a picture of a trench being dug for a water pipe sometime around 1900, the trench line for our pipe looks very similar to this.

The blue map shows the location of the water tank and water pipe completed in 1920. On the right is a 1930 photo, the area cleared for the water pipe is very distinct.

In May 2011  Donna and I found where the wood pipe entered the water tank.

We found two of these pipe clamp things.

We followed the pipe to the creek and it ended up here, we expected to see a dam on the creek but if there was ever anything there it is gone now.

On the way back to civilization we stopped at the Pickett Historical Museum in Index. Lee Pickett lived in this house, he was a photographer for the Great Northern Railway and also took quite a few pictures of Alpine. The University of Washington has a large collection of his photos here.