Treasures of the Snoqualmie Valley, 01-12-08

[Jerry]

Treasures of the Snoqualmie Valley
January 12, 2008

It was still dark when we left Yakima at twenty ‘till seven in the morning, but it was dry and warm enough to top off the tank in my shirtsleeves. Not that I would want to stand out there all day, but at least it wasn’t freezing.

We sped north on I-82 and when we reached one of our favorite viewpoints, the Kittitas Valley from atop Manastash Ridge, we were rewarded with a completely new vision. The sun was just beginning to cast an early light and a mist added a little haze to the snow-covered valley with twinkling lights from the houses below. It looked like a giant gauze Christmas tree floor covering with sparkles. It might sound cheesy, but it was really quite beautiful.

It started to rain when we reached Ellensburg and rain turned to snow at Cle Elum. We were making good time until we reached the Stampede Pass turnoff, that’s where the snow started sticking to the road. The snow was beautiful and somewhere around Cle Elum we saw a small herd of elk grazing next to the freeway. Going over Snoqualmie Pass traffic slowed to 45 mph. The road wasn’t bad, just a little slow. We reached North Bend before 9:00 AM where it was pouring down rain. We were wondering if anybody would show up in this downpour.

When we walked into the restaurant we found Jim & Kerry from Tacoma and Bill from Puyallup already seated. Later came Gary & Sheila from Olympia, Rick from Bellevue, Valerie and her mom Ellen, Sid from Renton, Dave & Roberta from Edmonds, and Mark & Kathy from Lyman. Upon leaving the restaurant we were found by Tom & Dorothy from Duval, Martin, Heather and their young son from Snoqualmie and last, but not least, David & Lynn from Bonney Lake. We had a total of 22 people and 12 cars. So who lets a little rain dampen their spirits?

After borrowing a long city block to line up our caravan beside the curb, we gave Martin & Heather the lead so they could guide us via paved county backroads from North Bend to Snoqualmie. Heather announced points of interest over the CB as they led us over shady, tree lined roads to the confluence of the North Fork and South Fork of the Snoqualmie River, then we passed estates, horse farms and parks via increasingly narrow country lanes. We saw a couple of deer at the side of the road on our way to the community of Tokul. Soon after that we were back in civilization at Snoqualmie Falls. It was a most enjoyable drive and the rain had even let up a little bit.

There were parking spaces for all the cars in the lower parking area so we didn't have far to walk the pathways to the Snoqualmie Falls overlook. There was a lot of water going over and it made a beautiful sight. It's pretty hard to beat that kind of scenery!



Next we drove into the town of Snoqualmie and visited the restored Snoqualmie Railroad Depot Museum and Gift Shop where we were greeted by a true character wearing the hats of docent and store clerk. Across the street were antique and other shops to capture our interest for a few additional minutes.



Next we drove a very curvy section of Highway 203 to Fall City where we turned onto a narrow farm road that led us to the Snoqualmie River Road. The River Road meandered through the valley until it ended on the outskirts of Carnation. Tom & Dorothy took the lead at this point and guided us over some neat county roads into Duval. As we enjoyed the scenery Dorothy told us by way of the CB radio of their first hand experiences with road closures, power and telephone outages and days off work due to the recent wind storm. We passed within a couple of blocks of their house on this route so they know that part of the country like the back of their hands. It had quit raining and there was even some blue sky peeking through the clouds as we neared Duval.

Duval is a small town known for its antique shops, used bookstores, ice cream parlors and a quilt shop. The town also has several restaurants of which most of us chose Ixtapa, a Mexican restaurant, as our choice for lunch. As usual, eating lasted longer than we had planned so our shopping was cut to a bare minimum – except for one person from Yakima, who shall remain nameless, who spent WAY too much time in a quilt shop while the rest of us looked at our watches and pondered her destiny.



From Duval we drove the West Snoqualmie Valley Road to the High Bridge Road, a twisty climb into the foothills west of the valley. It was another pretty drive through forested hillsides and farmland with standing water that attracted flocks of white trumpeter swans and even some bald eagles. We passed private residences perched on steep wooded slopes with even steeper driveways and we glimpsed views of the Snoqualmie River Valley as we made our way toward the town of Snohomish.

Snohomish is the Antique Capitol of Washington. Bar none! With a trip up the main drag we officially ended our tour and everyone was on their own in a town with a hundred thousand antiques and other relics.



We sincerely thank everyone for coming and especially thank Martin & Heather and Tom & Dorothy for leading us over some really neat backroads. We enjoyed seeing old acquaintances and it was a pleasure meeting new ones and we hope to see all of you again soon.


Jerry & Evelyn from Yakima

[Steve]

As usual, great write up Jerry. It sounds like a great time. We were looking forward to attending however I ended up having to work an overtime shift.

Steve

[RidgeRunner]

Jerry, that's a very interesting, well-written trip report. Sounds like a fun day, sorry we weren't there.

Mick