Wayfaring Day 105

October 13, 2025 Monday

Another beautiful clear day affords us an opportunity to explore in a new direction. Today we have chosen the Leavenworth direction.

The morning was as usual with the dogs and as usual not started very early. By about 11:00 we had readied ourselves for a road trip toward Leavenworth. We decided that if we didn’t make it all the way to Leavenworth we would be fine with that since we were just there a year ago. This was a beautiful drive through the mountains and alongside rivers. The views were amazing but getting photos was challenging due to heavy trees and foliage. The fall colors are coming in so that made the drive even more impressive.

We stopped in Skykomish for something to drink and to take a look around. We walked out on the bridge and took a few pics. We also visited the Great Northern and Cascades Railway. This is a type of railway with locomotives and rail cars that are ridden by straddling the cars. We have seen these online but this was our first time to see one in person. After a little time there we left Skykomish and continued our drive.

Our next stop was Steven’s Pass. To our surprise there had been recent snow in the mountains and the snow almost reached down to the Granite Peaks Lodge. The snowfall also made for some beautiful scenes and photo opps for us. We decided that we would go ahead and drive all the way to Leavenworth. We did however take a side trip to Lake Wenatchee and then a slightly different route to Leavenworth.

At Leavenworth we found parking and paid for it as one has to do in Leavenworth. We only took time to eat at a German restaurant and look in the Christmas store, which is amazing. After some schnitzel and then getting into the Christmas spirit we headed back on Washington State Highway 2 to cross the mountains again.

On the return trip we made a couple of stops that we missed on the earlier drive. One stop was a short stop at a trailhead to see an old Great Northern caboose and the other for visiting Deception Falls. Deception Falls is most certainly worth the stop. The falls are beautiful and easily accessible. The parking lot is decent sized and has chemical toilets. The trail is technically a loop trail but we only walked the section near the stream and the falls. Don’t miss the walk under the bridge to the overlook for views of the upper falls that should not be missed.

From Deception Falls we drove the rest of the way back to the house with no stops. We let the dogs out had another round of ball chasing before getting them cleaned up and in the house. We just snacked for dinner due to our large and late lunch. We watched some TV before getting everything ready for bed.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another pretty day but we haven’t made any decisions on how to spend it.