Denny Creek Trail 1014

August 2006

Click on the small pictures to see a larger version

Lucy recently joined the local Girl Scout troop - and Lucy's scoutmaster lives in our neighborhood, and is in fact the mother of one of Lucy's good friends, Sarah. The troop occasionally does whole family activities, such as hikes. This past weekend, the rest of us (Tim, Sandy and Clara) joined Lucy and her troop and other parents on a day trip to Denny Creek Bathing Rocks (located to the west of Snoqualmie Pass, just inside the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. We met at Sarah's house early on Saturday, and then headed north and east, to where I-90 intersects Denny Creek.

We arrived at the trailhead in good fashion, weighted for the rest of the pack to show up (approx 10 girls, including a couple older siblings like Clara, and about 7-8 adults) and were soon on our way. The trailhead (along with the Denny Creek Campground) actually lies between the east and west bound branches of I-90 on their way up to Snoqualmie Pass. Part way along the path to the Bathing Rocks, the trail passes under the west-bound lanes.

The trail was a well-groomed and typical lower Cascades forest - large firs and very green, with berry bushes and wildflowers scattered along the way. As usual when Tim has a camera in hand, he lagged behind taking pictures of anything and everything. By the time he caught up with the group at the first rest stop, they were ready to head out again, in spite of the standing girl scout rule that a rest period doesn't start until the last person arrives!

The sound of water grew louder as we drew near Denny Creek. As we came out of the woods, we crossed a footbridge; below us, was a pretty creek disappearing down a steep river bed; but the real excitement was upstream, where the "Slippery Slab" beckoned.

It didn't take long after our arrival at the Slippery Slab, aka the Denny Creek Bathing Rocks, for the girls to get into the swing of things, in spite of the cold water. In fact, there wasn't a whole lot of water to slide in - there's probably a period of a few weeks in early summer when the water level is high enough for good sliding, and not so high you get washed away (and/or the trail is so wet the hike in is difficult).

Above the Slippery Slab was one of many small (and some larger) waterfalls along Denny Creek. After sliding, the girls enjoyed clambering upstream to this waterfall. s

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Last web page update was September 8, 2006.