Just across the road from POI 13 is the Grant Cabin.

Did the Hepburn Tramway actually go through POI 13 (red line on map below)? Or did it cross what is now the Miles Canyon Road and pass behind (west of) the Grant Cabin (blue line on map)?

The answer is... maybe.

For most of the 5.3 km documented in this project, the tramway trail is quite distinctive on LiDAR. That corresponds to the manner in which the right of way was constructed. It was nothing too elaborate in level areas, just some minor ditching on either side probably with the excavated soil tossed into the centre to elevate the right of way a bit.

The right of way north of POI 12 shows up clearly on LiDAR and that's what this project maps (red line). The LiDAR "signature" of that section is quite similar to that of the rest of the 5.3 km. Spot checks of the section north of POI 12 on the ground show that the side ditching is detectable in that area.

The right of way ditching is detectable on the ground towards POI 13, east past the point where the tramway might have crossed the Miles Canyon Road, i.e., traces on the ground are as mapped with the red line. However, these are not very clear and may be spurious indications resulting from the Miles Canyon Road construction.

The Miles Canyon Road is quite high above the surrounding forest floor where the tramway would have crossed it. The elevation difference is much greater on the south than on the north meaning that the route shown by the blue line would have had a (too) steep climb... the road embankment was not there pre-1900. Measurement required.

No obvious on-the-ground indications (e.g., parallel ditching) of the tramway exist north of the road west of the cabin, i.e., on the blue line. The shadow that appears on the LiDAR is actually a wet gully. It does not have the same LiDAR appearance as the rest of the tramway.

On the other hand, aerial photos from before the power dam created Schwatka Lake and before construction of the Miles Canyon Road in the area show no indication of the tramway right of way toward POI 13 (red line). They do have a shadow corresponding to the route (blue line) behind the Grant Cabin (currently wet gully).

So... maybe.

TimmiT History Exploration Notebook