The day after Christmas was dry, but a bit foggy in Woodinville. We never did escape the fog on Christmas Day, so we decided to try and find a hike where there was less fog for the day after Christmas. Jared decided on the Twin Falls Trailhead in Ollalie State Park. It is a very accessible trailhead (not far from Seattle at all), but we decided since it was only in the mid-30's that not many people would be hiking. Well, there were a fair number of people and dogs on the trail after all, but it wasn't overly packed. We definitely wouldn't want to hit it on a summer day.
Since there are waterfalls involved, a river needs to be included as well. In this case, we got to check out the Upper Snoqualmie Watershed. There is supposed to be some good fly fishing in this area, so we took some pictures of the map so we can check it out later in the spring.
Here was a pretty pool of clear water. We could imagine that it might be a pretty decent swimming hole on a nice day.
We couldn't get any closer to this Fir tree, but just trust us when we say it was HUGE! It is always amazing to see these BIG, OLD trees!
The hike to the waterfalls was actually really fast -- especially when you have a high speed dog leading the way. The round-trip hike was only 3 miles, so we were at the top in no time whatsoever. It was a nice view and really picturesque waterfall. Lots of really nice pools at the bottom of each of the falls.
If you look closely, you can tell that the sun did come out, but it was mostly blocked by the mountains on this hike. Having a dry day was more important than having full sun...while the hike was chilly in the beginning, once you start hiking up, you warm up in no time. It was quite funny to see how many dogs on the trails had sweaters on to keep warm...
However, not our dog...she went swimming -- several times. We took her down to the river so she could get a drink and she did a complete body immersion every time. She made us shiver by just watching her dunk her complete body. Neither one of us were brave enough to test the water, but since it was only 37 degrees (air temperature), you know that water was cold. She was perfectly happy though -- it was a good day for her because she not only go to go hiking, but she went swimming!
