Snoqualmie Falls

After breakfast we drove out to Snoqualmie (snow-kwal-me) Falls, a 270 foot natural waterfall just thirty minutes east of Seattle. Local Native American tribes considered this a spirtual place of great power. In 1851, European settlers discovered the falls and the first lodge was built in 1919 as a rest stop for the tourists soon flocking to the falls. Now it is the second most visited tourist destination in Washington State. Today's visit was to capture the falls in an icy state. The base of the falls is iced over and at the top you can see ice on the rocks. When we visited in January, it was to see the rush of the falls and it was very cold on that visit. The weather was more pleasant today. A little history on the falls is that the energy company operates two powerplants at Snoqualmie Falls, with the first being built in 1898. A combined output of 44,000 kilowatts are produced by the falls. The Salish Lodge and Spa is located above the falls and is a remodeled version of the original lodge, including an original fireplace in the dining room.