Franklin Falls
February 15, 2016
Mileage: 4.4 roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 400 ft.

A very soggy opportunity to test out my new traction devices.

We were the first ones in, and parked well out on the road to avoid having to get around anyone on the way out. I left my proper camera in the car because I had forgotten some essential rain gear, and we traipsed about a mile up the snow-packed road to the trail head.

The trail was slick, but I felt very comfortable and was able to keep up a good speed with the additional traction. These Ice Trekkers were on super sale at REI and I figured they’d give me a good baseline, and an opportunity to test out what I can do in the winter. We’ll see how long they last, but I was pleasantly surprised with how they worked today, and think that for similar conditions they’ll perform fairly well.

This trail meandered pleasantly along Denny Creek, which was all swirling green water and white foam. Extraordinary power.

We stopped at our first viewpoint of the falls, uncertain about going any closer with so much fast-moving water all around.

You can see the trail in the photo below along the rock on the right side. Very narrow and slick. Best not to risk it, in these conditions especially. Instead we headed back to the car and back to Seattle to be warm and dry again.