Last weekend we were both getting over some kind of sickness, so we decided it would be a good weekend to do a short hike, followed by a couple breweries, and a few other sights along the way.
It was supposed to be a nice day, but it certainly didn’t begin that way. Our drive eastbound on I-90 from Seattle was soggy and grey… a picturesque Pacific Northwest day. At exit 34, we headed to the trail head for Twin Falls, situated right next to the Snoqualmie River within Olallie State Park. For those that may want to visit, there is a day-use fee for this trail head. You can either use the pay-station for $10, or you can use the Discover Pass which costs $35 on-line, or $30 at a licence vendor, or retail location (like many Safeways, REIs, or Wal-Marts). We arrived around 9:30AM, and there was still plenty of parking available, though by 11:30 when we were heading out, cars were parked along the side of the road leading to the lot, so get there early.
The trail generally follows the Snoqualmie river upstream, beginning as a wide, flat path, and eventually heading up 2 fairly steep, switch-backed climbs on the way to the bridge at the top of the first falls. Our first glimpse of the falls was from the top of the first climb, where there are two benches looking out towards the falls, and I’ll admit… it was more impressive than I had imagined. As we reached the benches, we thought we were climbing towards the interstate, and that we were hearing the roar of cars rushing by, but as we hit the clearing, it was clear that it was the falls that we were hearing. The rain had pretty much stopped, but there was still a low mist hanging in the air which obscured the tops of the mountains that surround the falls, leaving them framed in a hazy veil. With all the green vegetation, and mossy trees… it was about as ideal a Pacific Northwest scene as they come.
Leaving the benches we headed downhill back towards the river, then back up to another ridge before going down one more time. We hit an unsigned intersection as we headed down from that second ridge (which was really just the “rim” of the river basin. We decided to keep heading downhill, which was a good plan, because that was the trail to the observation deck which put us right in front of the falls. From this deck the falls take up almost your entire field of view, and you’re so close that the mist from the falls gets all over you. The sound of the falls was powerful, requiring us to yell at one another to be heard. I had a hard time getting a good picture to show the magnitude, but hopefully you can tell that it’s pretty impressive from the photos I did get.
After climbing back up from the observation deck, we continued along the trail to the top of the falls where a bridge crosses the river just before the river cascades 230 feet over the falls. There’s another short climb on the other side, which switches back towards the river to a viewpoint of the upper section of Twin Falls. Apparently the lower falls actually has a hydroelectric plant buried beneath it which generates 24 MW of electricity. It was built in such a way so that the intake and outlet ports cannot be seen, so the falls look natural. In reading some other information, it sounds like the falls can be less impressive late in the summer, as a lot of the flow is siphoned off for power generation. In any case, with all the rain we’ve had recently, the river was raging.
We continued up the trail for a bit after the second viewpoint, but it soon became obvious that we were just heading to a second trail-head, so we turned around and headed back toward the car. As I said before… on the walk back we passed a LOT more people, and in the parking lot we found a large group of whitewater kayakers getting ready to head out on the river. We were glad to have gotten the hike in before the crowds.
Our first beer stop was in the town on Snoqualmie at the Snoqualmie Brewery and Taproom. We hit them just after they opened, so we were the only ones there for a while, and grabbed two seats at the small bar. We sampled a few of their beers, and all were good. One notable beer was the Bunghole Double Brown Ale, a 7.7%ABV, smooth, malty brown ale with a bit of a kick. It’s one of their winter seasonal beers, and I’m glad we got a chance to try it. I ended up having a pint of their Black Frog Stout, which is served on Nitro, and really hit the spot after our short hike. Casey went with their Copperhead Pale Ale on Nitro. It’s a well done American style pale-ale with the twist of being served with the smooth and creamy body that Nitro delivers. Along with our beers we got an appetizer to share… the Spinach, Artichoke, and Jalapeno dip with tortilla chips, and it was no joke. The jalapenos provided a nice heat, so it was almost like a queso dip. It was very good, but definitely take heed if you can’t handle spicy.
After the brewery we wandered around town a bit. We stumbled across a homebrew shop (but didn’t get anything), an interesting looking hardware/general store (exactly what you’d expect in a PNW town), and the best find of the day… the heirloom cookshop and their Saturday Brunch. The heirloom cookshop is a small kitchen space that offers cooking classes, as well as a small menu of soups, salads, sandwiches, and baked goods all made in house, and with as many local and seasonal ingredients as possible. We really lucked out, because when we were there they also had a little pop-up cheese shop staffed with a highly knowledgeable cheesemonger. We sampled several cheese from around the world, even one from our home-state of Vermont, and we got the story behind each and every one. We left heirloom with a couple of cheeses, a nutella pastry, and a coffee. This place has only been open for about 5 months or so, and I think they’re going to do well. You can check out their blog here.
After our unexpected, but very tasty, stop, we got back in the car for a very short drive over to the Salish Lodge & Spa. We weren’t here for any spa treatments or lodging today though… we just wanted to see one thing… Snoqualmie Falls. If you take a look through my photos, some of you may recognize the falls and the exterior shot of the lodge from the opening credits to the cult-classic early 1990’s TV show Twin Peaks (see the Twin theme of the day?). This is an, understandably, popular spot for tourists, and today was no exception. We wandered down to the lower observation deck where there were slightly fewer people to snap our quick photo before going up to the lodge and wandering for a bit. For fans of the show, the exterior shot is really the only thing that was used. the inside of the lodge bears no resemblance to the interior of the Great Northern Hotel from the show. We didn’t spend much time here, and continued our own trek northward to Redmond, WA, and Black Raven Brewing Company.
Nestled within a large corporate park in Redmond, Black Raven is brewing up some really, really good beers. We sat down, took a look at the board, and we had to get a sampler… of everything they had on tap. We tried a beer brewed with catnip and blueberries (Kitty Kat Blues Infused Pale Ale), a Chai coconut porter, and a top notch coffee stout (Feather Weather Coffee Stout). One of our favorites was the Proto Pale 2017 Version 3.0, which apparently differs from 2.0 in that they added Calypso hops to the dry-hopping schedule. We never got to taste the previous version… but 3.0 was delicious. We enjoyed our time here… the bartenders were pleasant and helpful, and we chatted with a few regulars. I wish this place was just a bit closer to home. We’ll definitely be making another trip here at some point. For those wanting to visit, it is just a tap room… they don’t make food there, however they do regularly have food trucks show up, and have some local take-out options available.
