Local Traipsing
The local waterfall that I saw was during the weekend of the 9th. We had such strange weather that weekend. It actually snowed down to sea level. I had some snow (that actually was sticking) in my front yard. I couldn't believe it... Snow! In my front yard!
On Sunday, since it was nice weather (cold though), I decided to go see some of the local waterfalls that I hadn't gotten a chance to see before. The two that were on the list to hit were Pomponio and Tip Toe Falls. I haven't had a lot of luck with visiting these two waterfalls. I had been to Pomponio before last October but I didn't actually end up finding the correct location for the waterfall. This time, Pescadero Creek was running very high so I didn't make it to the base of Pomponio but I did get to see it from the top. The two waterfalls are in different parks (one in Memorial County Park the other in Portola Redwoods State Park) but Pescadero Creek runs through them both. They had all of the bridges down at Portola so I wasn't able to make it across the creek to the trail to Tip Toe. Oh well, I guess I will just have to go back to try it again.Pomponio Falls - Rating 2
In addition to this shot, I got one from the top of this waterfall looking down as well. All in all this is a pretty little park to go walk around in, lots of nice coastal redwood trees. It is also not to far from my house. I have to say though that the little coastal waterfalls are no match for river waterfalls as far as wow factor goes.
Washington State - Trip 2 (Saturday)
I was in Washington from March 25th - 27th. I was attending a meeting at my company's Tukwila office (near Seattle), but I decided to extend my weekend up there so I could take a peak at a few more of the cool waterfalls there. I had a really busy three days that is for sure (I was up with very little sleep pretty much from Saturday at 7:30 am until Sunday around 10:30 pm - it was cool!). I flew up there Saturday morning and things didn't start out that well. My plane was 45 minutes late taking off and we had a pretty turbulent flight. The pilots tried to make up time and we only landed about 20 minutes later than we were supposed to so things were back on track. I picked up my rental car - a Ford Explorer this time - and headed to my hotel to drop my stuff off so that I could embark on the first waterfall trek of the weekend. The waterfalls that my companions and I went to on Saturday were Snoqualmie Falls, Weeks Falls, Middle Twin Falls, and Twin Falls. Up to this point during my waterfall trekking I have managed to stay mostly dry (except for waterfall spray that is!). The one exception is at Rocky Brook Falls where I took my shoes off to get to the slippery base of the fall. This weekend, however, started a trend of me ending up in the drink to one degree or another. On to the waterfall reviews:
Snoqualmie Falls - Rating 4
This waterfall is impressive. While I was there standing near it, I gave this a 3.75 rating instead of a 4. After consideration though I think it does deserve a 4. This is a pretty powerful waterfall. There are a couple of things about it though that take away from it being truly splendid. The first thing is that it is very touristy. In a sense it is nice that people can access it easily. For my money though I would rather have the waterfall all to myself (and the people I am hiking with of course). The second thing about it is that there is a power plant at the top of the falls and they have diverted water away from the drop. Other than that though, I can see why it is the most visited of the waterfalls in Washington.
Weeks Falls - Rating 3.5
With all of the waterfall visiting I have been doing lately, I have developed certain preferences for waterfalls that are part of rivers. Coastal waterfalls are nice to picnic next to but the real wow waterfalls that take my breath away are part of river systems. They just have a lot more power to them. This particular waterfall doesn't have much of the wow factor but it is a cool place to hang out. This is also where I slipped and got my feet wet, thus beginning my trend of getting a little to up close and personal with the waterfalls I visit. It would have been really cool to stand on that big log going over the river as well, but I was a bit gun shy from slipping earlier to actually get up there... Getting wet is one thing, breaking something is quite another. Contrary to some people's beliefs I am not completely crazy!! :-P This waterfall also has water being diverted from it.
Middle Twin Falls - Rating 3.75
The Twin Falls area is very enchanting. The way the water flows over the rocks just makes you want to linger for a while to take it all in. There are lots of cascades that lead up to the big drop of Twin Falls. Middle Twin Falls is just one section. There is an upper section as well but as we were a bit pressed for time, we didn't continue past the bridge.The bridge itself is very picturesque. I would like to visit this area again with more time so that I could take the trail I read about that goes closer to the bottom of Twin Falls as well as taking the trail we were on a bit further.
Twin Falls - Rating 3.75
I was wishing that I had a better camera so that I could capture the whole thing in one shot. It is really nice how the water sheets down the rock in to a deep pool. According to waterfallsnorthwest.com this waterfall is 135 feet tall. The trail to get here is very well maintained also so if any of you are in WA you should check it out. It is worth it. At some point I will definitely go back to investigate it more.
Stay tuned for part 2!
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