2019 Winter Social, potluck and a special presentation by Craig O’Brien and Daryl Jacobsen – featuring history and photographs of the mines of the Silverton and Monte Cristo districts. They will also have copies of the books “The Everett & Monte Cristo Railway” and “Discovering Washington’s Historic Mines – Vol 1” on sale for a significantly discounted price.

Members, families, friends and anyone else interested in Monte Cristo history are welcome to attend.

February 23 5:30 PM Jennings Memorial Park
6915 Armar Rd, Marysville, WA 98270

Also, 2019 annual dues for members of $24 are now due; we have changed to a calendar year membership instead of the prior june renewal period. Please see http://mc-pa.org/?page_id=48 for a membership form and address to mail your dues to.

Last work party of 2018 season! Meet us at Barlow pass 9:00 am to group together and commence our trip into the townsite. There is a variety of work to do, including more trail work on the Glacier Basin trail, securing items for winter, brushing around the townsite, and discussing and visualizing our interpretive site plans.

Given late October weather can be unpredictable, we will postpone or cancel the work party if the forecast looks ominous towards the end of the week. Check back here for updates; by Friday Oct 19 at the latest will will post a final determination.

UPDATE: Weather looks clear and dry for the next several days; we can plan on the work party happening.

ALSO, Kal will be bringing a lunch for all volunteers. Feel free to bring an item or snack of your own to share!

As usual, dress for changing weather regardless; bring any hand tools suitable for the work you want to do; the MCPA also has the ground and trail tools we’ll need already on site.

Feel free to drop us a line (see contact us page) with any questions or just to let us know to look for you.

Note we may only have 1 key for the forest service gate, so please plan to travel in with the group at 9:00 am and we’ll all plan on a single exit early afternoon.

On the newletters page, also below.

September/October 2018

September work party is scheduled for Saturday September 15. Meet at Barlow Pass gate at 9:00 AM (arrive a little early so we’ll be ready to head into town at 9).

Lots of work to be done – there is white trim to be painted on the cabins, we’ll be replacing the 2’nd half of the shingle roof on cabin #3, and there is a quick project to finish up the other 1/2 of the cabin 3 roof.

Let David Cameron know (see “contact us” page) if you plan to meet us at 9. A few of us will be heading in Friday in order to get a jump start on the cabin roof repairs, so it would be good for David to know a headcount of who to expect at Barlow. As usual, none of us will have phone or email contact once out of Granite Falls, so we’ll go with the information we have as of (very) early Saturday morning.

All supplies and tools needed for the repair projects will be provided and on site.

There is also plenty of opportunity for brushing around the townsite cabins, turntable and trails.

August newsletter is posted on the newsletters page.

With the emphasis on the townsite cabin maintenance this season, I find it appropriate to make available some history on the townsite cabins and former resort.

David Cameron has provided this excellent summary of the townsite resort. MC Resort Purchase Essay

Also, Jim Sekulich provided a copy of a 1965 publication which was available to resort visitors in the mid 1960’s. The publication and drawings were created by the resort owners, including Ken and Flo Schilaty. Most interesting is the resort’s hopes to build a gondola to the top of Wilman’s Peak and provide the “Greatest Winter Sports Area in the NorthWest”. 7-1-1965 MC Mountaineer

It is the MCPA’s hope to maintain that same enthusiasm for the Monte Cristo area (minus the gondola, of course).

We had another productive work party August 18. Our biggest task of re-roofing FS cabin #3 is precisely 50% done; we plan to complete the second half at the September 15 work party; we also found a couple broken rafters on the opposite side of the roof which will need repair too.

Other work accomplished included white trim painted on Cabins 1 and 2, brushcutting up the glacier basin trail, and improving the accessibility of the monte cristo road/trail at the entrance to the clayslide.

See the photo album below showing the before, during and after condition of Cabin #3 roof.

Badly decayed existing roof

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Meet us at Barlow pass gate 9:00 am to begin the trip into the townsite for our August work party. We plan to replace the roof on the FS cabin #3 as it is failing and causing deterioration to the structure. We will also be finishing the paint job on the 3 cabins, and will have several other projects to tend to. Supplies for the maintenance jobs will be provided; feel free to bring any ground and trail work tools you have if you want to do trail work.

We’ll plan to stay until early afternoon (2 or 3) but those working on the roof can stay later as needed to finish.

See you there – feel free to let us know you’re coming so we know who to expect at Barlow.

Past and Present Board Members – from left to right:

Craig O’Brien – Vice President
David Hartze – Treasurer
David Cameron – Education Committee
Mike Kahler – President
Bill Rawlins – Prior Treasurer
Louise Lindgren – Education Committee
Kal Klass – Advisor
Doug Hammond – Advisor
Ruth Danielson – Newsletter Editor
Not pictured: Kathy Pierson, Corresponding Secretary

Our August work party is planned for 9:00AM on Saturday August 18. We will finish the painting of the resort cabins and plan to re-roof cabin #3; the roof on cabin #3 is deteriorated to the point water is leaking inside and will soon cause structural damage. We’re still working the details but can surely use help moving materials, removing the old shingles, making repairs and installing new shingles. Please come join us if you have construction or roofing experience. We also have some signage at the townsite needing repair, will have the paint supplies to complete the cabin paint, and will certainly have brushing and other activities to tend to.

Meet at Barlow Pass gate at 9:00AM, where we can consolidate our group and supplies then head into the townsite via the new access road. We’ll plan to have 2 groups exiting to accommodate schedules, such as one early afternoon (2:00) and another later in the early evening (5 or so). This will allow for the most attendance but also give us a full day to work the larger tasks.

Any questions or comments, see the “Contact Us” page. Also let us know if you plan to attend so we can arrange for supplies as needed and have an idea who to expect at the gate.

Our July work party was a huge success. We had a great turnout – thanks to everyone who joined us and all the work you did.

Projects included:
Re-install the MCPA bulletin board roof at the clay slide area.
Surveying and mapping of the MCPA townsite lot for planning for our interpretive site.
Greeting visitors and providing tours of the townsite
Researching and surveying the locations of original townsite structures using period maps/surveys.
Brushing and cleanup around the townsite and trails
Cleaning culverts and improving drainage
Painting the 3 resort cabins in the old railyard

The cabins look great with their first new coat of paint in 30+ years. We still have finish work to do, such as the white trim work, which we will tackle at our August work party (Saturday, August 18); see newest postings for more information.

Cabin #1 and Turntable

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