Hike 7: Snoquera Falls

On Sunday, April 18 the sun came out and the temperature was in the 70's. That's hard to beat for mid-April in Seattle, and it was just right for a hike. On Friday night we stopped at REI and asked the ranger what trails he recommended that weren't covered in snow. He suggested that we try a hike southeast of Seattle, about 20 miles east of Enumclaw off of Hwy 410. A couple of summers ago, we took that highway on our way back from Mt. Rainier, but we didn't realize how many trails and campgrounds were waiting to be explored in the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest. We might go back again this summer and spend a few days camping so that we can enjoy more trails.

After missing the pulloff spot for the trail that we originally were aiming for, we ended up going farther east and turning around. In our pursuit we actually found a small airfield in the middle of the forest. Odd placement maybe, but who wouldn't like to land a personal aircraft there? After turning around we got to another trail that the ranger recommended, so we decided that it would suffice.

Needless to say, Snoquera Falls exceeded our expectations. It was a scenic hike with a few views along the way. But the best part was the waterfall at the end. Here's my first glimpse.


We only saw one person on our way up to the falls and four people on the way down. It felt like we were the only people in the whole forest...a sharp contrast to some other hikes we've done along the I-90 corridor.


Our photos can't really show how tall the waterfall really is.






Not only did we have the waterfall to admire, but the view to the south was notable as well.


On our way down we saw this animal skeleton. Not sure what it was...


To cap it off, when we were driving back, we saw two elk cross the road. They were pretty tame, but neat to see anyway.



At the beginning of this post I mentioned how we stopped at REI on Friday night...for their 20% off sale...to get backpacks. Details in the next post...

Hike 6: Little Si

Seattle surprised us with a few rainy/cold April days, so we didn't go hiking on the weekend of April 3-4. The mountains received a good amount of snow so we weren't sure about local trail conditions. We avoided hikes with where there would be a lot of snow and decided on Little Si, which only reaches 1,576 feet at its peak. We invited our friends, Mitra and Reinhard, to join us on the 4.6 mile hike. It was a fantastic day, and it was nice to see the sun shining through the trees.

This is the view from the top of Little Si. The ridge across the way is the hike we went on two weeks ago from Snoqualmie Peak to Rattlesnake Lake. As you can see, there is a considerable amount of snow at the top. The city of North Bend is below.

This is a view looking east across Snoqualmie Pass.





Here we are with our friends, Mitra and Reinhard.


A few minutes after this picture was taken, we saw a 5 year-old fawn pug stopping to enjoy the view. I couldn't believe that a pug could hike this far. Pugs are not necessarily known for their agility, their endurance, nor their breathing ability (or lack thereof). Not to mention they are sometimes stubborn and lazy. But not this pug...he was extremely fit and seemed to enjoy hiking. His owner even said that he made it all the way to the top of Mt. Si, which is 8 miles roundtrip. Incredible! Maybe a pug is in my future after all...




As of today, we've only been able to raise $1,705, which is about 34% of the way to $5,000. We are going to continue to fundraise until June 2, which gives us two more months to get to our goal. We appreciate any support that you can give. All donations are 100% tax-deductible and 83 cents of every dollar raised goes to breast cancer research. Thanks for your support!