Adventure is out there! In this case, the adventure took us out to Snoqualmie to visit the Cedar River Watershed, alongside Rattlesnake Lake. The Watershed is owned and managed by the City of Seattle, and has an Education Center on site to learn about the history of the area, and why this water source is so important to the City. On this particular Thursday, myself and Thuy, our Vietnamese Social Services Specialist, went with a group of 13 of our Seniors to visit the Education Center and dip our toes in the lake.
The Education Center is only open Thursday and Friday starting at noon, so we arrived a little early to explore the forest surrounding the Center. There is a creek running through the area, including underneath the Education Center. There are flowers, trees, and plants growing throughout the grounds, and a drum garden that makes music with the sounds of rain and the water pumped up from the creek.
Once the Education Center was open for the day, we had the opportunity to learn about the geographical history of the area from hundreds of years ago, and the origin of Rattlesnake Lake. Where the lake is located today, there used to be a small town that was flooded and washed away; the water never fully left, which formed Rattlesnake Lake as we know it today.
After a history lesson from the Education Center staff, we took a lunch break and then made our way down to the lake. The weather was perfect, warm enough that you wanted to walk in the cool water of the lake. We enjoyed the beautiful nature in the area, and saw some kayaks and canoes out on the water, as well as the tiny specks of people hiking the Rattlesnake Ledge trail.
All in all, we had a great trip and a really wonderful history lesson about the water sources for the City of Seattle, and one of the more popular lakes in the area. We really recommend going up some time to visit—a number of our Seniors plan to go back again with their friends and family!
