Starr Treks: Alaska trip Friday 5/29/15 Issaquah WA

STARR TREKS FRIDAY 5/29/15 ISSAQUAH WA

We got up at 5:45, ate breakfast, made a picnic lunch, and then when we started really studying the map to Mt Rainier, decided not to go. A lot of the park is not even open this early in the year, and it was going to be a very long 2-3 hr drive just to get there. So we elected to do some waterfall hikes that were a lot closer. Twin Falls was recommended to us by a friend of our friend Betsy who lives here. I also read about it in an article in Visit Seattle Visitor’s Guide. It only took about 30 minutes to get to Olallie State park (where we had to pay a $10 day use fee!). Part of the trail is washed out and under repair, so we started on the John Wayne Pioneer trail. Most of it was nice and shady, but the humidity warmed us up— another wonderful sunny day. This is considered an easy hike, but there were a LOT of ups and downs— we would call it a moderate, tho no rock climbing. A few areas were muddy (reminded us of when we hiked up and down to the leper colony Kalipaupua in Molokai 2 yrs ago!). The waterfall was very nice. There was another one below the boardwalk bridge that we stood on. It was odd to be able to hear traffic noise, since I-90 is not real far away. It was about 3 miles and took 2 hr. We ran into a few other young hikers— one girl ran the entire hike!! as we huffed and puffed along. I then saw another waterfall hike that was only 12 miles away, going toward Issaquah. The Snoqualmie Falls was accessible by a paved path near a hotel /spa, the Salish Lodge (I looked it up and the rooms are $484 a night!!!!!) What I did not realize, was that we could hike all the way down to the river which made this very nice. We went thru a beautiful forest, then finally got to the river — the sign warned that this was the equivalent of climbing up and down a 32 story building! It is only .7 miles each way, but it was a lot of climbing. They had lots of logs to sit on along the trail, + signs describing the hydroelectric plant located there— it was first built in 1898, and completely redone in 1996. We sat on rocks along the river to enjoy our lunch —and it just doesn't get any better than this— enjoying the sunshine, the river, and our lunch! There was another area with a boardwalk where you could walk past the hydroelectric plant and see the bottom of the falls— so misty it was hard to see the waterfall down there.

We got back to the RV and got cleaned up — I wanted to go to a museum, but Larry vetoed me! We did drive down to the chamber of commerce in Issaquah, trying to get some information on ferrying up to Victoria. We think we will start driving toward the border on Tuesday and will stay on the US side. We want to leave from Arronte WA and ferry with our car thru the San Juan Islands (hope we’ll see some whales!) to Sidney on Vancouver Island, then spend one night and see the island and Victoria. We have some organizing to do before then.

Tomorrow, I gave the choice of Mt Rainier, or another closer waterfall hike to Larry. He chose Wallace Falls, so that will be our destination in the morning.