Hubby said “Let’s drive to Leavenworth”, so we got in the car and set off, up US Highway 2, to our favorite day-trip destination, just on the East side of the Cascade Mountains.  It was a beautiful high-70s day, and most of the traffic was going in the opposite direction!  We were quite fortunate, and found the Deception Falls park open.  It is a small park, with a new nature trail, and a new bridge over the falls.  Deception Creek is a tributary of the Tye River, which is itself a tributary of the Skykomish River.  The creek flows right under the highway, so there is always traffic noise.  At this time of year, the creek is pretty low, so you can easily see the channels the water has formed through the rocks.  First, here’s the beginning of the nature trail.

The path looked very inviting, but we didn’t really have enough time to stop and walk down.  On the opposite side of the park is the walkway down to the falls.  This is the Lower Falls.

And this is Deception Creek below the Falls.

In the opposite direction is the Upper Falls, where the creek dips below the highway.  You can see the walkway on the opposite side, where you can walk under the highway and get a good view of the entire falls.

In the Spring, the creek is much higher, and you can get drenched if you stand on the walkway under the road.

We didn’t have time to do much more exploring, so we headed off up the road and over Stevens Pass.  This is the view on the way down.

Leavenworth wasn’t too crowded, because it was the end of the day and the holiday weekend.  We did our normal stroll through town, and then had dinner at Gustav’s Restaurant.  This is our last view of Leavenworth before heading home.

That half-moon was just gorgeous in the twilight.