Adventurous, mildly challenging but not hard, Barbara and I were well aware of Mt. Lowe from past hikes in Eaton and Rubio canyons and the Millard Falls Campground, but this was our first trek along a portion of the actual Mt. Lowe Railway route. A favorite for hikers, bikers, and runners, the trail is simple to find off Chaney Trail (road) heading north from W. Loma Alta Drive in Altadena. We had to add an extra half mile to the hike because the small ten-car parking lot was already full at 8:30am! The history of this popular district—listed on the National Register of Historic Places—dates back to the 1885–1935 Great Hiking Era of the San Gabriel Mountains. In 1893, inventor Thaddeus Lowe and his partner conceived and built a railway from Rubio Canyon to the top of Echo Mountain, an engineering wonder that made Mt. Lowe one of the most popular tourist attractions in SoCal. Lowe, an inventor, had become a Civil War hero after he established the Union Army Balloon Corps to do "balloon reconnaissance" on the Confederate Army for President Lincoln. Lowe's Railway became even more famous—"the grandest scenic trip on earth"in its time—until the Depression, loss of interest in RR travel, and natural and man-made disasters led to its abandonment in 1937. Today Barbara and I hiked a portion of the railway's route following the Mount Lowe Motorway access road then trail. Better to take this hike counterclockwise as the first 1.2 miles are all uphill, but the rest of the hike is a terrific downhill adventure.  Once we reached the elevation peak at 2720 ft, the trail switchbacked west, zigging and zagging down deeper into Millard Canyon below while mountain bikers zoomed past us (very polite bell-ringers so no surprises.) At 1.7 miles a side trip took us past an old mountain cabin and down to beautiful Millard Creek where we met a US Forest Service Trail Crew Member creating rock bridges across the creek. Barbara and I creek-hopped rocks several times, following the trail on our map until we spotted the entrance to the Dawn Mine, an abandoned gold mine in operation from 1895 to 1954. The mine had some success for a while, but nothing to "eureka!" about. Retracing our steps back to the main trail, we hiked along the north side of the mountain facing down into the canyon. The morning fog that had blocked out any view had finally lifted and we were able to see Saucer Falls across the canyon, and hear voices from the Millard Campground and Millard Waterfall to the north. The mountainside trail intersected with the trail we started up on and we followed it back to the car. A hike quite magnificent in every way—waterfalls, birdsong, a variety of mountain mushrooms, shade and sun, and never boring. Just watch out for the "leaves of three let them be" poison oak!