Leavenworth in Winter
A bit delayed in posting, but we went away to Leavenworth with Aaron and Joelle last weekend. It was something we had planned ahead for a few weeks, and none of us realized until we actually tried to book a place to stay that it was Valentine's Day weekend. Even so, we managed to get a place to stay and made it up there for the weekend without problems - the passes were dry and bare when we went through.
The idea of going up in the winter came from when all of us had visited earlier in the Summer. Aaron and Joelle passing through on their way somewhere else, me and Clodagh with my parents in September. Aaron and I both had read through the 'Leavenworth' magazine/handout, which had a really cool picture of the main square all covered in snow. Fast-forward six months. A little snow on the grass next to the gazebo, but all-in-all nowhere near what I was expecting.
To our great disappointment, though probably to our great benefit as well, the hike through the snow we took that afternoon was just that. A hike. I think all of us were psyched up to try out snowshoeing as it sounds fun and quasi-adventerous. At the end of Icicle Rd, they eventually stop plowing and you can walk for miles on the snow. Literally the directions and information we got from the snowshoe rental place were: "No, you don't need snowshoes. Just go back onto Icicle and stay going straight until they stop plowing." The snow on the road was all hard-packed from snowmobiles. Apparently, the people who live up the road park at the end and finish the commute by snowmobile. Which sounds cool, sort of like commuting via ferry sounds cool, but I'm sure is in actuality a big pain in the ass.
Other cool things to do there in the winter? Wine tastings, of course. There's also 'Ski Hill' - home to the inner-tubing run. Scene of me almost running over and killing a seven year old girl - assault with a deadly inner tube. Fortunately I was able to stop and avoid her at the last minute. As her parents caught the whole thing on video. Fantastic.
Selected photos online here. A couple near the end are actually from a stop to Snoqualmie Falls on the way home.