(mm 2393) In 1.1 miles you will pass the east side of Lodge Lake. Here you have entered a narrow clear-cut for the overhead power lines that run east-west above you. That means you are also directly over the 2.5 mile long train tunnel that runs under those power lines.

If you look west down the clear-cut you will see Interstate 90 below and also the old railroad grade, now a popular bike path. On that RR grade, just beyond the mouth of the tunnel, is the site of the old Rockdale Train Stop that was popular with The Mountaineers because it gave them easy access to their lodge.

The train tunnel was completed in 1914 and the train route over Snoqualmie Pass rerouted through it. The following year, The Mountaineers built a large lodge on the west side of Lodge Lake. They would disembark the train at the Rockdale platform and hike, snowshoe, or ski up to the lodge. The lodge served as a base camp for ski touring, climbing and socializing until it burned to the ground in the summer of 1944.

You can still see rocks that mark the outline of the lodge fireplace. If someone has not removed them, you might also find the cast iron cook stove and cast iron toilet. You can also still find trails from the lodge location to Denny Creek Campground below.

The second lodge

The Mountaineers built a second lodge in 1948, 0.8 miles away, on the opposite slope of the same mountain. This time they built on a piece of property acquired from the Northern Pacific Railroad. Sadly, the second lodge also burned down May 12th 2006. Arson was suspected. The uninsured lodge was never rebuilt. In 2016 The Mountaineers sold their 77 acre property to Boyne Properties, the owners of ski resorts on either side of the property.

The Mountaineers

The Mountaineers is an outdoor recreation organization of the Pacific Northwest, founded in 1906 in Seattle. One of the founding members of The Mountaineers was Asahel Curtis, a renowned Northwest photographer. In 1906, Curtis, together with W. Montelius Price and Henry Landes, then UW Dean of Geology, formulated the idea to create a new northwest mountaineering club.

Of the original 151 charter members of The Mountaineers, more than half were women, including future Mayor of Seattle, Bertha K. Landes.

Patrol Races

Starting in 1930 The Mountaineers and PSNA co-host the Patrol Races, a 20 mile backcountry winter race between their two lodges, the other lodge being Meany Lodge at Stampede Pass near the Martin RR stop. The route follows the CCT/PCT to Stampede Pass then heads down to Meany Lodge. For safety, the race was done in teams of three who departed at five minute intervals. Today the Patrol Race starts at the PCT Trailhead on the south side of I-90.