It turns out that there really was no one else staying at the FC Roadhouse last night. When we went down to the parking lot in the morning, there were no other cars and there was no sign of any employee on the property. It was nice having our own private hotel.
We took a short walk to the local grocery store, where Karen found some prime examples of Washington State apples. Then, it was on the road into the Cascades.
Highway 203 goes north from Fall City and follows the Snoqualmie River through lush farmland. Along the way, there were several roadside farm stands offering pumpkins and other fall produce for sale.
At the little town of Monroe, we made a right turn onto Highway 2. This road follows the Skykomish River up into the mountains through deep canyons. Our first stop was at the visitor center in Sultan, where we learned that the pink salmon (which are really black and white) were making their biennial run up the Skykomish River.
Just a couple of blocks from the visitor center is Osprey Park, where we took a short walk to the river. The salmon were looking tired and beat up after who knows how many miles they’d previously come. Still, they continued their struggle upriver while flocks of seagulls stood in the shallows waiting to pick off any fish that faltered.
In quick succession, we passed through the tiny hamlet of Index, and then stopped at the Espresso Chalet for a quick snack. The chalet is also the site of some location footage used in the 1980’s era movie, ‘Harry and The Hendersons’.
Just up the road, we stopped for a short hike at Deception Falls. When we went down on the trail into the hobbit-like rain forest, the temperature dropped a good 10 degrees. This is likely the last we’ll see of this type of climate for a while as we continue east into the more arid part of Washington.
As we got near Stevens Pass, we pulled over for another little hike on the Iron Goat Trail. Part of this trail follows the old rail bed of the Great Northern Railroad. Along the trail are the remains of a large concrete support wall built in 1913 to accommodate snow sheds to protect the rails. It was near here in 1910 that two passenger trains, caught in a heavy snowstorm, were swept by an avalanche off the rails into the river gorge, killing 96 people.
Up at Stevens Pass, we got some views of fall colors on the nearby mountainsides.
Then, it was time to ride the autobahn into Washington State’s little slice of Germany, Leavenworth. If you’ve ever been to Solvang, CA, then you’ll have an idea of what it’s like in Leavenworth. In fact, the two local business owners who, in the early 1960’s, came up with the idea of creating a theme for their struggling town, were partly inspired by a trip to Solvang. Over the past 60 years, the town has been transformed into a successful and popular tourist area.
Our hotel is just a block from the riverfront village area and a short walk to where we made a taffy pick-up and then had a German dinner at Andreas Keller (in the cellar).
NEXT: Reindeer Farm in the Morning, Then Chelan in the Afternoon
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