Snoqualmie Tunnel by Dogscooter

This post may be a hair off-topic for this blog, except that dog-scooters, such as these,

might very well turn out to be a useful means of urban transportation if Jim Kunstler is correct about running out of oil.

But in any case, I plan to be there to take part in the Snoqualmie Tunnel Run by Dogscooter organized by Ms. Daphne Lewis, (on lead scooter, above) but of course only as part of my research into alternative modes of urban transport.

Second Annual August Snoqualmie Tunnel Run
DATE: Sunday, August 10, 2003
TIME: 10 am
DIFFICULTY: Flat, smooth gravel; 5 miles; cold, dark.

DESCRIPTION: This is our weirdest scooter event. We meet at the Hyak Parking lot, put on our coats, mittens, hats and HEADLAMPS and scooter to the entrance to the Milwaukee Road Tunnel. Enter the tunnel and it is pitch black and 54?F for 2.25 miles. You can not see a thing. In 2002 we passed through the tunnel and regrouped at the other end. Most of the dogs did not seem to mind the pitch blackness. Amazing. I wonder if they can see. The water drips from the ceiling. There are gutters to carry off the water on the outside edges of the tunnel. We like doing this run as an annual event in summer because it is cold and the dogs do not overheat and mostly because it is so crazy. This tunnel is the longest on the Milwaukee rail trail which stretches to Chicago, Illinois. Joe Brown and Bessie did the tunnel last year and posted Joe's photo to some of us. The entire photo was solid black except for a tiny speck of white in the middle. (It makes me laugh just thinking of that photo.) One could get scared; it is so dark. If you want more miles, you can scooter along the south edge of Keechelus Lake after returning through the tunnel, but outside the tunnel it is August weather east of the mountains.