Our journey to Seattle remained high-powered until the very end when Emily guided us to Snoqualmie Falls and Underground Seattle in the last couple of days. Both were fascinating and this post focuses on the first, while the next will deal with an extraordinary tour that was literally underground.
The web-site https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoqualmie_Falls gives a good account of the history and significance of the falls which makes my job easier. I'll just provide a few photos taken on a sunny day in mid-winter. Our timing was not the best because very cold weather led to the closure of some icy paths, but we enjoyed the splendid views of the falls and surrounds. On our day there was quite an impressive flow of water over the falls despite the redirection of much of the Snoqualmie's stream flow through two hydro-electric stations. Alas we were looking straight into the sun while photographing the falls and this turned out to be the only worthwhile picture I took. Note the snow on the rocks.
The falls produced some impressive spray that quickly froze on plants and rocky outcrops to provide the rather attractive images shown here of both the top and bottom of the falls.
Another reason lies in the two hydro power plants, among the first developed in the world. As was explained in some very good signage, the first plant - completely underground - was opened in 1899, while the second became operative in 1910.
At the nearby hotel / resort we saw a lovely fountain in winter's embrace with snow and ice adding to the fountains gracefully.
All in all a great trip - but quite the best weather to view the scenery.
AS
The web-site https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoqualmie_Falls gives a good account of the history and significance of the falls which makes my job easier. I'll just provide a few photos taken on a sunny day in mid-winter. Our timing was not the best because very cold weather led to the closure of some icy paths, but we enjoyed the splendid views of the falls and surrounds. On our day there was quite an impressive flow of water over the falls despite the redirection of much of the Snoqualmie's stream flow through two hydro-electric stations. Alas we were looking straight into the sun while photographing the falls and this turned out to be the only worthwhile picture I took. Note the snow on the rocks.
The falls produced some impressive spray that quickly froze on plants and rocky outcrops to provide the rather attractive images shown here of both the top and bottom of the falls.
Downstream, the view was also attractive and all of these images help explain why the falls are now on the US National Register of Historic Places.
Another reason lies in the two hydro power plants, among the first developed in the world. As was explained in some very good signage, the first plant - completely underground - was opened in 1899, while the second became operative in 1910.
At the nearby hotel / resort we saw a lovely fountain in winter's embrace with snow and ice adding to the fountains gracefully.
All in all a great trip - but quite the best weather to view the scenery.
AS
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