I set out this morning to visit and photograph Franklin Falls. My friend Cindy had done so twice in as many weeks and I was hooked when she showed me her beautiful photos of the partially frozen cascade. The road to the trailhead was closed due to snow adding 4 miles to the normal 2 mile hike.  There was a distinct footpath tramped into the snow which seemed passable so I stashed the car under an overpass and started hiking at about 7am.

The further up I hiked, the narrower the path became and the deeper the snow. I passed a couple of cars which didn’t look like they were going anywhere anytime soon.  About a mile and a half in, the “path” was all but swallowed by last nights snowfall.  The virgin snow was so deep that I could not lift my leg out high enough to take the next step. Cindy had loaned me some crampons but at this point what I really needed was a pair of snowshoes.

I knew pressing on would be futile and I had not even reached the trail head. Logic rarely prevails over emotion when I am faced with an obstacle in the way of a photo I want. Today, I wisely decided to turnaround and try my luck with a waterfall at a lower altitude.

Snoqualmie Falls were on my way back to Seattle and you can drive right up to the upper viewing platform.  A short 1 mile hike takes you to river level and there was only a few inches of snow on the ground. Not the frozen scene I was hoping for at Franklin Falls but images I would be happy with on any other day.

Fortunately my day ended on an extremely joyful note. Lisa, almost one year old, is the daughter of Nora and Simon. Possibly the cutest baby in the world (after Kyle, Nico and Maya) I joined her for dinner this evening. I was Nora’s mentor while she was attending MIT and we have stayed in touch ever since.  She just left Microsoft for Facebook and is in California for 2 weeks of training. Although I did miss seeing her, I was thrilled to have Lisa all to myself for almost two hours while Simon prepared a home made Peruvian dinner fit for a king. Little surprise given her parents, Lisa is a baby Einstein. I thoroughly enjoyed “conversing” with her as she instructed me in the use of three different remote controls, discussed her first day at daycare, and showed me where all the Cheerios in the house were hidden. She will be walking within two weeks and I would have had her up and running this evening if not for fear of Nora’s wrath had this day arrived while she was away.