Growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, my nearest natural area was Pinnacle Mountain State Park just west of the city. It became a main location for my dad and I to hike, take picnics, or canoe when I was little. I even got a volunteer position there for a few summers as a summer camp counselor when I was a young teen. The park superintendent, Randy Frazier, interviewed me even though it was mostly for show. Who interviews 14 year old volunteers? He and my dad knew each other from before I was born. I think there’s a story in there about my dad working maintenance for the state park system, but it was never fully detailed in my childhood nor is there any record anywhere. My dad just always KNEW every park in the state. I worked with park rangers to teach five year old kids about the ecosystems in the park, go on canoe floats down the Little Maumelle River, and make cobbler in a Dutch oven over an open fire. And we learned about ticks. All. The. Ticks. Those early years really formed my appreciation and love for the outside world.
As much as I wanted it to happen, my dad was never able to make it out to the Pacific Northwest. As much as I wanted to take him to see Mt. Rainier or the Hoh rainforest, it just never transpired. I used to send him photos of these places, places that hold so much awe and magic. He always appreciated those photos and phone calls, but I’m sure it doesn’t fully compare to the real thing. As I keep finding new places to see, I often think about those moments. I switched from sending photos to my dad to now sending them to my mom. And now those photos usually feature my son. I feel like I have sort of taken on my dad’s spirit, taking Stone to all these natural places and showing him the beauty that exists in these areas. I still remember staying at Queen Wilhelmina State Park with my dad for a weekend. We stayed up late each night, and on one particular night he had the idea to watch the stars while playing guitar and singing kid’s songs like “BINGO” or “This Old Man”. Those are some of my most cherished memories of my dad.
And now, I see myself doing the same things with my kid.
Halloween weekend was set to be the best weather we were going to have for probably ten days. Maybe even two weeks. And I had hoped to pack as much outdoor time into those two days as we could. With the recent rains, I had a feeling that the river systems and water ways would be overflowing. I had wanted to check out Franklin Falls for a few years. This was our moment! After wrapping up a few things for my “regular” job and photographing a family at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, we headed North on I-5. This is a route I have taken dozens of times on my way to Montana or the Gorge Amphitheatre – the usual I-5 to 512 to 167 to the 18, past Tiger Mountain, then east on I-90. I had it memorized. But I had never stopped in the pass to go hiking.
Franklin Falls Trail is a 2 mile out and back route located near Snoqualmie Pass on FS 5830 off I-90. The trail follows the south fork of the Snoqualmie River for about a mile with views into the canyon of river rapids and emerald green pools. The first probably quarter mile was close to river level. Random cabins lined the trail, reminding me of my decade long dream to own a cabin in the woods. Stone and I veered off the trail via a rock ledge to the water. As it rushed past us, I wanted to stay there, to sit on the flat rock and talk about water systems and the water cycle with my little one. But we had started late. We got to the trailhead around 3pm so I knew our daylight time was limited. We got back to the trail and pushed forward to the falls.
Stone needed a few reminders to stay away from the canyon edge and avoid stepping on any slick rocks or roots in the trail. The trail was muddy in a few spots but completely manageable, even in his half-cab vans. I still need to get him some hiking boots but his damn feet keep growing so fast! He outgrew his new school shoes in 2 months. I am still committed to getting both he and I rain gear for the rainy season. I read an article last week that laid out the need for kids to be outside and how we as parents/adults influence their opinion of going outside. I do it just as much as anyone else. I talk about how “miserable” it is outside. How cold and wet and dark it gets here in the winter time. This is probably the first year I have been trying to shift my thinking toward accepting the weather and being more prepared for the cold and the rain. But I am also fully influenced by that gloomy weather. We can’t change the outside environment but we can change how we approach it. So maybe we will have a few puddle jumping, rainy waterfall hikes soon. I am sure Stone would love that. Now I just need to find water resistant gear. Once I tackle that piece, I will probably write about stores and tips for kid gear.
The main path of the trail ends at the bottom of a stone staircase overlooking a log jam and numerous rocks and timber. You can continue even further to the base of the falls though by hugging the rock wall to the right of the trail and following a narrow rock shelf. This area was slow going as folks were taking their needed time to traverse the slick rock shelf. It wasn’t a long drop, maybe 4 or 5 feet at most. But it was jagged. A wrong step could result in sprained ankles/knees or lacerations from the sharp rocks. Or even worse, completely falling and breaking something or suffering a puncture would. If any of you have watched those “Final Destination” movies, you can probably understand that thing I do when I play out in my mind all the possible grotesque, harmful things that could happen in any given event. Or is that just me? I’m hoping it isn’t because I can easily visualize like seven graphically bad scenarios at any given moment. It’s usually much worse around crowds. Sometimes I think my dad also passed that on to me.
Stone knew what he was doing though, staying on the innermost side, hugging the rock wall while I stayed at his side, almost acting like a shield from both the water spray and the edge of the shelf. I did have to routinely remind him to watch his step AND his head. The rock wall had more than a few right angles jutting out that could hurt if you bumped your head. And he is the perfect height for almost all of them.
Stone endured taking selfies with me and even amused me by standing as close as he was willing to get to the falls for a few photos. The falls were difficult to be near. You could feel the force of wind from the 70 foot falls fill your lungs making it hard to breathe. Kind of like if you were to stick your head out of a moving vehicle or ride a motorcycle without a helmet. I am guessing we were 50 feet or more from the falls, and it was difficult to be there. My glasses were covered in water droplets and fog that didn’t clear up until we made it back to the car heater. Stone’s hands were cold and his hair damp. Thankfully our synthetic fleece jackets kept us warm and dry. In our hurry to leave town, I outfitted us in jeans which is not the best option for water. Thankfully, they also dried in the car.
As we made it back to the main trail, a person commented to Stone about how he was being so “brave” for going down closer to the falls. We joked about maintaining three points of contact (ladder safety) and how he could probably complete a V9/7c climbing route if given the right directions. Kid was born to climb things. He was climbing before he could walk. Once we were back on the main trail, we picked up our pace to get back to the parking lot. I was hoping that we could make it to Snoqualmie Falls before the sunset.
We still took some time to get sidetracked looking at mushrooms (“fungus among us!”) and taking photos of Stone with trees. He has been getting more into photography with each trail we do, sometimes asking me if he can use my phone to take pictures. It’s always a hard “no” cause this damn Iphone is worth like a third of my monthly take home pay. That’s a sad statement. I have been making a list of potential big Christmas gifts for him – which includes an inexpensive digital camera. Not a kid’s one though. I feel like tech for kids is just as expensive as some beginner items for adults. You pay the big dollars for things to have Paw Patrol or Elsa stickers on them. And then they break so easily. Insert major eye roll. I haven’t gotten far into technology for my kid, mainly because I couldn’t afford it at first. And then I justified it by believing that screen time for kids is detrimental to their development. But now, with education in a pandemic, students (including my kindergartener) are using tech in their classrooms on a regular basis. They are using Chromebooks and sharing apps for their work. It’s honestly pretty cool and cute to see him share his work with a big smile on his Seesaw App. And I want to support his curiosity when he expresses interest. The kid is growing….
We made it back to the parking lot around 4:30 pm. It was empty compared to when we arrived. I knew the sun would start setting just before 6pm, and we still needed to drive about 30 minutes to Snoqualmie Falls. I took off Stone’s shoes and my boots since they were covered in mud, and we hopped in the car to drive back to I-90 west.
Snoqualmie Falls are probably the most famous falls in Washington. Over 1.5 million people visit the falls each year. You will find the 270 foot falls along with a gift shop, The Salish Lodge, and an observation deck with a few different levels and viewpoints. Snoqualmie is the English pronunciation of “sah-KOH-koh” or “Sdob-dwahibbluh,” a Salish word meaning moon. These falls hold cultural and spiritual significance to the Snoqualmie people. One legend speaks of how “S’Beow”, the Beaver climbed to the sky world and took fir and cedar trees as well as fire from the moon and brought them back to earth for the people. This is a very simplified version of the full story. “S’Beow” provided warmth and light, as well as plentiful resources for the Snoqualmie tribe, the People of the Moon.
The history and stories surrounding the falls are pretty interesting when you think about how much I (nor anyone else) would not be able to do what they did. White settlers started to arrive to the river valley in the 1850s. One in particular was Josiah Merrit. He built a cabin at the base of the local peak in 1862 – now named Mount Si after old Uncle Si. Josiah Merrit had his cabin and a garden and raised pigs apparently. He would also sell bacon in larger settlements like Everett or Seattle. This meant hauling his goods via sled to the river, floating his canoe downstream, strapping his things to his back to make the 270 foot climb UP the falls, hiking a bit, and canoeing the river again. I don’t understand how this is humanly possible? When I first read about this it felt like I was reading about Paul Bunyan and his companion Babe the Blue Ox. His story was a big one in my elementary school for some reason. Not like Arkansas had really tall trees. These are stories though…. and Uncle Si was a real person.
It seems odd that the Falls and surrounding areas were not owned by the Snoqualmie tribe until 2019 when they purchased it from the Muckleshoot tribe for $125 million. The tribe lost all of their land in the Treaty of Point Elliot in 1855. They also lost their tribal recognition in 1953. They fought to regain federal recognition and sovereignty in 1999 and bought a small piece of land in 2007 before buying the land around the falls. The tribe has also tried for decades to get PSE (Puget Sound Energy) to increase the spill over the falls. Charles Baker first constructed an underground power plant in the 1890s. A second power plant was built in 1911. PSE has an operating license for the hydroelectric facility and controls the amount of water that spills over the falls. The Snoqualmie tribe believes that the mist of the falls carries their prayers to the Creator. The falls are a spiritual place – as most major natural sites are. The Snoqualmie tribe also has their Ancestral Lands Movement, a mission to spread awareness about the history of their people and importance of their ancestral lands. You can find more information here and take the pledge to respect and restore their land.
Stone and I took photos from various observation decks. We were laughing at the different dogs in sweaters and rain coats with their owners. Sadly, I was not prepared to eat at the Salish Lodge so I promised Stone we would return after the pandemic to eat brunch at the lodge overlooking the falls. And I honestly want to try their Dungeness crab benedict or smoked salmon omelet with a blood orange mimosa. Stone can handle a plate of pancakes with a hot cocoa “coffee”. It’s pretty sweet planning little mom and son dates with him for the future.
We stopped at a gas station before going back home. Stone picked out a bag of “Pirate Booty”, which he kept giggling about. I got a coffee and a pastry for the road. The sun set fully as we left the gas station and made our way west on Hwy 18. On the way home I debated if we should try to find a spot to camp out to watch the Northern Lights early in the morning. But I knew we were already tired and had a full day of Halloween fun ahead of us. Stone was able to stay awake for the entire drive back home. We talked and sang along with songs on the radio and shared snacks. These moments while taking trips to big places with my little dude is the highlight of my life.
