The Hansen Creek Trestle is in many ways the antithesis of that
other popular landmark along the Iron Horse Trail, the Snoqualmie
Tunnel. While the tunnel is a long hole bored deep into the earth,
the trestle is airy vertiginous bridge hung more than two hundred
feet above the ravine below. Just as claustrophobes will shiver in
the tunnel, acrophobes will reel when crossing the trestle's
dizzying span.
The cache is located about a tenth of a mile from the bed of the
Iron Horse along a well-maintained footpath that begins near the
eastern end of the trestle. Look for the start of the path at the
point where the chainlink fence ends and follow it on up into the
forest. Take the high road at the fork and keep an eye out for the
remnants of an old fireplace; you're very close now.
Two starting points for this cache are recommended. The first is
the eastern approach beginning from the Hyak Trailhead on the
eastern side of the Snoqualmie Pass summit near N 47° 23.523', W
121° 23.564'. From here, it is about a 7-mile one-way journey to
the cache. Please note that this route takes you through the 2.3
mile long Snoqualmie Tunnel. Even in the heat of summer, the tunnel
is an abode of cold dampness, so warm clothes are highly
recommended for a passage through its dank interior. Even more of a
necessity is a powerful light capable of illuminating your way. The
other suggested starting point is the western trailhead at N 47°
25.434', W 121° 37.259'. To get here, take Exit 38 off of I-90 and
follow the paved road east past Ollalie State Park for 1.7 miles. A
short distance before the road starts up the entrance ramp onto
I-90 Eastbound, turn right onto a dirt road and follow it a short
distance up to where it crosses the Iron Horse grade. From here, it
is about a 6.3-mile one-way journey to the cache. There are several
other means of accessing the trail, and at least one significantly
shorter route to the cache, but I feel that these two approaches
give the best overall experiences.
GPS reception under the trees in the ravine at the cache site
can be marginal. I had decent reception on the day that I planted
the cache (reported EPE of 29 feet), but you may not be so lucky.
Even if you are, signal bounce under the canopy may direct you to a
different location than my GPSr was telling me. For these reasons,
you may want to have the spoiler pics at the ready when you head
off to hunt this stash. Keep in mind that no bushwhacking is
involved in this hunt, and in fact you do not need to step foot off
of the trail to retrieve the container.
The container is a camouflaged .30-caliber ammo can.