Green Free Lucy Park Walk With Icy River & Frozen Waterfall

This third Thursday of the new 2024 year I was back in Lucy Park for, I think, the first time this year.

With the temperature in the upper 40s, and little wind blowing, it made for a pleasant bout of communing with nature.

As you can see, what I used to refer to as the Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle, is now totally deprived of anything green, making for a forlorn looking barren landscape.

That is the Wichita River you see above, as it passes through the former Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle. The patch of white you see on both sides of the river is ice. 

That ice ought not last long, what with the temperature this afternoon getting into the 50s.

No, that is not frozen Wichita Falls you see above. The manmade Wichita Falls is a short walk from Lucy Park. When the temperature drops to near zero I assum Wichita Falls is turned off, thus not having the opportunity to freeze over.

The frozen waterfall you see above is Snoqualmie Falls, located a few miles east of Seattle. If you were a Twin Peaks fan, Snoqualmie Falls was the waterfall you saw on that TV shows opening credits.

If you visit the Snoqualmie Falls viewing lookout whilst the Snoqualmie River is in flood mode, Snoqualmie Falls is HUGE, spewing a big wall of mist and shaking the ground like an earthquake.

It is quite a thing to see. And feel...

Lake Wichita Dam Spillway Takes Me To Twin Peaks & Snoqualmie Falls For Some Northern Exposure

Somewhere, upcreek, a lotta rain must have fallen in the Holliday Creek watershed, judging by the rapidly raging Holliday Creek I saw today as I biked towards Lake Wichita Dam where I saw the spillway spilling what I photo documented above.

A virtual Niagara of water falling over the Lake Wichita Dam spillway. The roar of the water bordered on being somewhere near deafening. The ground almost was trembling from the force of the falling water.

I have not experienced such a wild water act of Mother Nature since the last time I was at the Snoqualmie Falls overlook during a flood. The roar at that time was totally deafening. And the ground actually did tremble. That, and even though the waterfall was a half mile distant, waterfall mist caused one to get quickly drenched.

Oh, I suppose I should point out that Snoqualmie Falls is in Washington, a short distance east of Seattle, near the town of North Bend, which was known as Twin Peaks in the TV show of that name.  Snoqualmie Falls was the waterfall you saw at the opening credits part of Twin Peaks whilst that show's haunting theme music played.

That was an odd time to live in Washington, during the Twin Peaks period. That show was big in Japan. Tour groups came from Japan just to go to the Twin Peaks locations and have cherry pie and mighty fine coffee at the Mar T Cafe. I did that myself. After hiking to the top of Mount Si. The cherry pie was blah, and the coffee was nothing special. Agent Cooper hyperbolized.

Around the same time Twin Peaks was a big deal on the west side of the Cascades, taking I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass to the east side of the Cascades, to the town of Roslyn, one got to have an even better TV immersion experience. One I did multiple times.

On the CBS Twin Peaks type show called Northern Exposure Rosyln was Cicely, Alaska. One could go in the Cicely bar, I forget the name, maybe The Brick was it, and have a pitcher of beer. Or cross the street to Ruth Ann's grocery. Or visit Dr. Fleishman's doctor office. Or the radio station, I forget the call letters and the DJ's name. My favorite was Dr. Fleishman's eskimo nurse, Elaine. She was very popular and would show up frequently in Rosyln to make tourists happy by signing autographs.

If you are ever in Washington and driving around the state, do not miss Roslyn. It's my favorite of the Washington tourist towns. And don't miss the cemetery. Or the pizza joint across the street from the saloon. A long line to get in on a Saturday night, but well worth it, and the wait is entertaining.

At my current location I do not know how far I am from a place I might think to be a tourist town. Hundreds of miles, maybe? Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country is a fun tourist town. That's the only one I can think of.

Spencer Jack Can Not Fly His Drone At Snoqualmie Falls

 Email this morning from Spencer Jack's dad.

Subject line: Favorite Nephew Spencer Jack at Snoqualmie Falls not flying his drone

Text in email----

FUD ---

FNSJ was not allowed to fly his drone this afternoon at Snoqualmie Falls.  It was a non issue as required drone flying conditions were not being met by Mother Nature.

Do you remember when you took me and FNJoey down to Snoqualmie Falls during the November 1990 flood season? You drove us the back route, just as FNSJ and I did today. I recall all the farm land to the west of the highway being saturated by flood water.  The falls then must have been at record levels to provoke such a trip, as once we returned home I saw the local news showing footage of the raging falls.

The small farming towns of Duvall and Carnation are no longer such.  A ton of urban housing has sprung up there.  Safeway, Subway restaurants, mini strip malls, etc. accompany this.   I have not driven that route in years, and was surprised how it has developed.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics.

FNSJ will send you footage of our drone flights, when we are allowed to do such.

________________________

It has been a long time since I drove through the towns of Duvall and Carnation in my old home state. I knew that Duvall had become a bit of a boomtown. When I last saw Duvall it was not much of a town.

I recollect taking Spencer Jack's dad and his Favorite Uncle Joey to Snoqualmie Falls when the Western Washington rivers were in flood mode. When that happens Snoqualmie Falls has so much water falling over it the ground shakes, felt quite a distance from the falls in the park where the Snoqualmie Falls overlook is located.

It is from that overlook Jason and Spencer Jack's photo above was taken.

Was there a problem with people flying drones at Snoqualmie Falls?

Apparently such was the case, hence the sign saying such was not allowed.

Texas Woman Visits Washington And Finds It Astonishing

I was looking for an old email, yesterday, when I saw a blog comment email from Techsas Woman from around three years ago which I did not remember.

My not remembering this email is clearly yet one more indicator of my failing memory function, because not only had I previously read this comment, I had hit the publish button on it and had replied to the comment.

In my memory's defense, I have multiple blogs, with the total number of posts on those blogs being in the thousands, all of which can get commented on.

The comment  from Techsas Woman and my reply.....

Techsas Woman has left a new comment on your post "The Skagit Valley's Big Rock With Spencer Jack's Grandma Cindy & The Nookachamp Star Child Falling From The Sky": 

I was so happy to find your blog, as I have a Texas / Mt. Vernon connection, too, though from the other side. My Texan daughter moved to Mt. Vernon three years ago. My husband and I made our first visit two years ago and found the beauty to be astonishing - the San Juan Islands, Deception Pass, Snoqualmie Falls... breathtaking! (The second thing we found astonishing was the number of ex-patriot Texans we ran into up there.) While I find some of your remarks towards Texas and Texans to be awfully stinging, I'm so pleased to find great travel commentary for the area. We're heading back in late June with hopes to head up towards Mt. Baker and also make a trip to Vancouver. 

Durango Northwest said...
Thanks for the comment, Techas Woman. Did not get "Techas" til I read the comment. I can't remember any stinging remarks directed at Texas or Texans. I have age related memory issues. You are really gonna like Vancouver. Very scenic. And the town's Skytrain & Sea Buses make it easy to get around. If your visit to Mount Baker is to the ski area you are in for some classic mountain driving that might be unsettling if you've not experienced that before. Later in summer hiking up Mount Baker becomes doable from the south side, hiking to the side you can see from Mount Vernon. You might also like driving over Stevens Pass. It being, in my opinion, the most scenic of the Washington mountain passes, with Leavenworth on the east side being Washington's best tourist themed town. The North Cross State Highway is also very scenic with another tourist theme town on the east side, in Winthrop. I miss Washington and its extremely varied topography.

_________________________

I can't imagine to what Techsas Woman refers when she says some of my remarks regarding Texans and Texas are awfully stinging. Anything I have ever remarked has always been reality based. I guess reality can have a bit of a sting if ones view of ones world is through tainted rose-colored glasses....

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Turkey Day was the subject line in an email I got this afternoon from Spencer Jack's dad.

The email included the photo on the left, with the text saying...

FUD--- Thought you'd enjoy this photo. Spencer Jack's girlfriend and I took an early morning drive down to see Snoqualmie Falls. I was telling Brittney that my favorite Uncle took us there during the 1990 flood when even more water could be seen flowing down the falls.

Spencer Jack's dad calls me FUD. The FUD initials stand for Favorite Uncle Durango. Spencer Jack's dad is known as FNJ, or Favorite Nephew Jason. Spencer Jack's uncle is also known as FNJ, for Favorite Nephew Joey.

I think FNJ is erroneous about the year I drove him and his brother and cousins down to see Snoqualmie Falls. I remember the vehicle I was driving at that point in time and that vehicle did not get driven by me until 1994.

The visit to Snoqualmie Falls, which FNJ is referencing, was falling a lot more water than what appears to be falling in this picture. I remember the ground was vibrating and a very thick mist made seeing the falls only possible intermittently.

The view in this picture became well known after a TV show called Twin Peaks frequently showed a slightly wider view, which included the Salish Lodge on the left.

Go to the Salish Lodge website and you'll see a rather cool view of the Salish Lodge and Snoqualmie Falls. Move the mouse to the top of the picture and you'll see a mountain in the background. That mountain is Mount Si.

Yesterday whilst blogging I was lamenting the fact that I can not remember the last mountain I hiked. Seeing the picture of Mount Si has me thinking that may have been the last mountain I've climbed, at some point in time late in the previous century.

The trail to the top of Mount Si may be the busiest trail in Washington. Every time I've reached the summit I have been amazed by how many people are already there.

The last time I hiked to the summit of Mount Si I remember going to North Bend afterwards and having some of that famous cherry pie at the Mar T Cafe. Along with coffee. Neither were as memorable as Twin Peaks led one to think they would be.

Snoqualmie Falls & The Queen Of Wink

I am back in I miss Washington mode again this morning. That is Snoqualmie Falls in the picture. If you were a Twin Peaks fan you likely recognize the Falls and the Lodge above the Falls, from that TV show.

The Queen of Wink has never seen a waterfall. When I saw this picture of Snoqualmie Falls this morning when I logged into Facebook, I felt compelled to swipe it and blog it to show the Queen what a big waterfall looks like.

Before I forget, I must credit Mike Bullock for the photo. It was from him I swiped it.

This picture appears to have been taken from the Park/Overlook. I have been at this location when the Snoqualmie River is in full flood mode. The only more powerful acts of Mother Nature I have experienced was a 6.5 earthquake and a volcano exploding.

When the Snoqualmie River is flooding the Falls has the ground shaking, the roar is deafening and so much spray is in the air you end up as wet as you'd be in a downpour.

Snoqualmie Falls is only about 20 miles east of Seattle, a short distance north of I-90. North Bend is a couple miles to the east. You can go there to the Mar-T Cafe and get some of that famous Twin Peaks cherry pie and coffee. I have had the Mar-T Cafe cherry pie and coffee. It really was not all that good. I don't know what Agent Cooper was thinking.

Below is a YouTube video of Snoqualmie Falls, taken on January 9, 2009, when the Snoqualmie River was in flood mode. And another YouTube video is below the flood, showing Snoqualmie Falls and the surrounding park area like it's looking right now, in summer...