I have lots to do tomorrow morning, so I'm writing and posting this week's hiking post on Saturday evening, a bit earlier than usual.

Located near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington, the Franklin Falls Trail is an easy out and back trail totaling 3.2km, with 105m elevation gain. It can be hiked year round, and when you go in winter, the snow and the partly frozen waterfall combine for an unique view that you don't see regularly.

We went on this hike after hearing about it from my sister in law back in early 2017, during which time, my daughter was only 5 and my son 4. I only have 1 back, and could not carry both children on my back, and since the whole trail was covered completely in packed snow (it is a popular winter trail, and the snow on trail is usually packed down by hikers), we borrowed a plastic sled from my sister in law and pulled both children on it. Another problem with going in winter is that the access road leading from the highway to the trailhead parking lot also get covered in snow or ice, and often times gets closed down to vehicles for safety reasons. As such, it is an extra 3.9km walk just to get from where we can park our cars to the trailhead. Of course, on an out and back trail, all distances gets multiplied by 2, so it's close to an additional 8km added to the short 3.2km hike, making the trail quite a bit longer. Of course, a mere additional 8km walk in ice and snow could not detract my wife from reaching and seeing a partly frozen waterfall in person for the first time, so onward we go and forward we pull. My kids were little at the time, but pulling both of them on a sled continuously uphill proved to be quite tiring. Good thing my sister in law's family came along and her two teenage sons took turns helping with pulling the sled.

Access road from highway to parking lot closed to vehicles due to ice.

Reaching higher elevation and access road covered in thick snow.

One of my wife's teenage nephew taking turns helping pull my kids in the sled.

Passing by a creek / river.

After about an hour of walking up the service road, we finally reached the trailhead marked by a toilet and some signs. The trail starts off wide and flat and eventually narrows. Like many typical northwestern trails, it weaves through lots of trees and at times passes by a creek / river. The trail is straight forward and clearly marked, until we near the falls, where the trail leads down a narrow steep slope. We had to ditch the sled and descend the narrow slope with care, but once we passed the slope, we reached a large area where people are taking photos or admiring the view of the partly frozen Franklin Falls. We took our own photos and spent our own time admiring the surrounding view. As also saw a guy ice climbing to the side, which was quite cool to witness. After spending our time at the falls area, we made our way back the trail and down the access road to our cars. One final thing I recall from this hike is that going downhill with two kids in a sled is much easier than going uphill.

Nearing the trailhead.

Toilet at the trailhead covered in snow.

The trail starts off very wide and straight.

Narrow steep section just before reaching the falls.

Looking ahead down into the open area from the narrow steep section.

Someone was ice climbing.

Franklin Falls seen up close.

Check out my previous hikes.