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Skykomish
Things to do
- Poke through the past: The picturesque town of Skykomish has many of its original buildings, including the Skykomish Hotel, built in 1904 and soon to reopen, and the Cascadia Inn, built in 1918 and recently refurbished. The trains no longer stop, but the town's old railroad depot is still here, at Depot Park, maintained by the Skykomish Lions Club.
- Take a hike: The Skykomish River Valley has endless trails to lakes, waterfalls and other attractions. Copper Lake empties into a waterfall descending 600 feet down a slope. Lake Angeline and its outlet spray 1,000 feet into Delta Lake. A well-beaten trail along the east fork of the Miller River leads to Florence and Dorothy lakes.
- Pig out: For 30 years, Zeke's Drive In, halfway between Gold Bar and Index, has been a Mecca for gut-bomb connoisseurs returning from skiing or hiking at Stevens Pass and beyond. The family-run business has seven types of hamburgers, the largest a half-pound monster big enough for two people, plus half-pound hot dogs, ostrich burgers, chicken sandwiches, milkshakes with real fruit, and other goodies. It's open every day except Christmas and Thanksgiving. A sign in front says, "Welcome to Zekesville, elevation 264, population 5, established 1968." The five are owners Mike and Dawnell Cashman and their three children.
- Pet a snake: Slithery snakes and crawly critters could have no more enthusiastic or knowledgeable an advocate than Reptile Man, as Scott Petersen calls himself. The former high school biology teacher operates the Washington Serpentarium and Reptile Zoo on Highway 2 in Gold Bar, 20 miles west of Skykomish. Open daily, it has about 200 reptiles, mostly snakes, including a 17-foot, 200-pound albino python and three king cobras. Petersen also has lizards, alligators, snapping turtles, skinks that hang by their tails and a frilled dragon _ plus spiders. All the snakes are safely behind Plexiglas, and a few are available for petting. Petersen has shown his pets to more than 800 school assemblies in the two years since opening his unique little zoo.
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