Day 6 · Scheduled earlier
Arlington
Washington
Arlington at the forks of the Stillaguamish
This day on the route
- Planned date
- The day
- Walking
- Planned walking
- 12 miles
Day 6: 12 planned walking miles to Arlington. This public place anchor does not imply a hosted visit, tribal affiliation or a reserved trail route.
Route overview, not turn-by-turn directions.
Day 6 is planned as 12 miles to Arlington. River travel, the railway and the Centennial Trail each leave a different layer in the town’s history.
Arlington stands at the forks of the Stillaguamish River. The city’s history describes the river as a travel corridor long before the settler town and records Arlington’s incorporation in 1903. The location matters independently of any modern road: two river branches meet here, tying the town to the wider valley.
The city’s Main Street walking tour, updated with the Stillaguamish Valley Museum in 2026, follows another layer of that history. The original depot closed in 1972 and was later removed. A replica was built as a visitor center. Some railway tracks remain near Legion Park, while the corridor north of downtown became part of the Centennial Trail.
The planned walking leg from Kruse Junction is 12 miles. Arlington is followed by a longer stage into southern Skagit County and then Mount Vernon. River travel and rail transport connect the histories of these neighboring communities, long before this walking journey links them.
From the road
Fifteen miles, the longest day yet
Fifteen miles out of Arlington, and the longest day of the walk so far. She managed it on a day pack again — the family who had taken her in the night before ran the heavy one up to meet her at the finish. Somewhere in the last stretch the road crossed out of Snohomish County and into Skagit.
The winery at the end of it could not put her up, for insurance reasons, so Becky came and collected her instead, and she and her daughter Jenny made up a bed indoors rather than start pitching a tent at that hour. Fifteen miles is a long way to walk before you are allowed to stop.
Jeana wanted something said about that family. She has spent this week asking strangers for food and for somewhere to sleep, and she thinks the asking is only half of it.
As Americans, we have an independence that tells us not to receive from others, but their gifts to me were plentiful and they also received many gifts through the act of giving. That’s the beauty of the reciprocity of true generosity.
- Distance walked
- 15 miles
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NMDP — Join the registry · checked Sep 1, 2026
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Sponsoring a mile, a day or a stop is a way of describing a gift to the Jada Bascom Foundation. It does not purchase anything on the route.
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Sources
Local history and background reading for this stop.
- History of Arlington — checked Sep 5, 2026
- Main Street walking tour — checked Sep 5, 2026
