Snoqualmie...

We escaped the rain this morning, headed north to the Snoqualmie valley for a hike. Tolt-MacDonald Park is on two levels: pastoral green fields below, where the farm used to be, and a repurposed barn that was once part of the dairy farm. But cross the river on a somewhat creepy suspension bridge, you can climb the trails to a forest high on a bluff above the Snoqualmie River. It's a favorite of mountain bikers; once you get up the steep switchbacks to the top, you can ride for miles on singletrack and old logging roads.

We came up to find one of the oldest geocaches in the state, placed in early 2001, then we just explored. At the top of a "shortcut" trail back down the bluff to the river, we found this amazing view across the valley to the fresh snow in the Cascades.



The shortcut didn't turn out to be the fast trail we'd hoped. It was shorter than retracing our steps, but it was a steep, root-laden, slippery, sometimes hair-raising trek back to the park. I was glad to have a walking stick, and glad for roots and branches to hang on to in the worst spots. And most of all, I was glad it hadn't rained recently. It would be a nasty, slick trail when wet.

We had the chance to stop by Snoqualmie Falls this morning, but I decided to wait until after our hike. Which turned out to be a bad call. Just as we drove out of the park, it started to rain. And when we got to the falls it was raining so hard, I didn't want to risk my camera. A few quick shots of the falls in full force, and we ran back to the car.