Rob and Janet's Cabin

Denny Creek Cabin #5

How to get to the cabin.

Drive.

Google Maps


View Denny Creek Cabin #5 in a larger map

The cabin is located near Snoqualmie Pass, a few miles off Exit 47. The Google map to the left is the best way to find your way to the cabin. (Note that it's in-between the east- and west-bound lanes of I-90!) Click on the cabin icon and you can even get driving directions from anywhere you want.

How to get to the cabin in winter

The first part's the same, but the last mile - not so much.

From I-90, take exit 47 ("Denny Creek / Asahel Curtis") and follow the signs for Denny Creek Campground.

That is, on the north side of the freeway, head east (right) and pass under the west-bound lanes of I-90. If it's a weekend, there will be TONS of cars here.

As of Winter 2017-2018, the county closes the road just off the freeway, but cabin owners are allowed to move the barriers and continue on as far as they can. This has been verified with Scott Ling of King County Roads, and with King County Sherrif's Office Deputy Ed Christian. One of the barricades does not have sandbags holding it down. Drag/rotate this out of the way enough to get your car past. (This assumes it's OK for you to drive from here; if there's much snow - or worse, ice - then that may not be a good idea.)

Continue for about 2 miles, and if there's much snow on the ground, you'll come to the place where the snow plow stops. Park somewhere legal, gear up, and continue down the road on foot, skis, or showshoes.

Soon after you start , you'll cross a bridge. About 1500 feet later, you'll pass the entrance to the campground, on your left, closed in winter. The road will continue past the campground, then curve left and downhill a little, then head right and uphill. Partway up this hill (100 feet?) you'll come to an intersection, with the left-hand turn labelled Franklin Falls and Melakwa Lake. There is a fancy new two-door outhouse here as of 2016. Turn left here - don't miss this turn or you'll keep going up to the pass, 3 miles further on!

In 200 feet you'll cross another bridge. The road will curve uphill and to the right; our cabin is the third one on your right, about 150 feet on. You can't go too far wrong - this road dead ends in a loop about 1/4 mile past the cabin, so if you miss it, just come on back! :)

If we're there, it will probably be the only cabin with smoke coming out of the chimney, and with a massive number of tracks in and out, so it shouldn't be hard to find. It's a red/brown A-frame, with a "#5" next to the door - although, with any luck, it'll all be buried under 10 feet of snow! :)

Instructions

What to do when you're going to the cabin.

What to Bring

  • Sleeping bags or bedding; pillows
  • Drinking/cooking water
  • Flashlight
  • Food; in cooler(s) with ice or blue ice

Once You're There

  • Open the drapes and shutters, put the big plastic garbage cans (used for emptying/filling the hot tub) outside (if you want to), and sweep out any mouse souvenirs.
  • The key to the outhouse is in the far-left cupboard, hanging on a hook, along with a key for the woodshed.
  • Turn the propane on. On the tank outside the cabin next to the woodshed, lift up the metal hood on top of the tank, and turn the handle counter-clockwise. You might hear it pop a little as the gas fills the line - that's a good thing.
  • We don't use the water from the kitchen tap - it comes from the big tank upstairs, which has to be refilled in a very complicated, difficult, scary process. So use the water you brought or melt snow in winter.
  • The propane heaters are a quick way to warm the place up, but exactly how to start them is beyond the scope of this document. Suffice it to say that you need a match, and three hands - or, failing that, two people working on it together. I've never used the fireplace, but the wood stove really gets cooking!
  • If it's cold outside - and it always is - you will want to put a cover over the fireplace hearth. There's a spiffy new plexiglass cover for that purpose. But please leave it OFF the fireplace when you leave, to help increase the airflow and reduce mold and mildew.
  • Turn on the gas to the kitchen stove by turning the valve that's on the input line behind the stove about waist high. Look back there with a flashlight, you'll find it. Turn the little arm so it's parallel with the line for 'open', perpendicular to the line for 'closed'.
  • The refrigerator supposedly works but I don't know how to start it; you can use it as mouse-proof storage, though (there's also an empty cooler in the back room for mouse-proof storage).
  • The hot tub works, but firing it up is complicated. Have me show you how sometime!
  • Have fun! Hike up the Melakwa Lake trail, or to Franklin Falls, or up the old wagon trail, or ride bikes up to the pass along the old road, or just sit and look at the river!

    • When You Leave

    • TURN THE PROPANE OFF AT THE TANK and behind the stove. The line leaks a little, and we don't want the cabin to fill with propane. That would be a little joke on the next person to come there and light a match, wouldn't it? You don't have to use a lot of force to close the valve - that just makes it difficult for the next person to open it. "Hand tight" is enough. REMEMBER: IT'S LIKE A FAUCET: TO CLOSE IT TURN IT CLOCKWISE!
    • Please replenish the inside wood supply from the woodshed. You can form a human "bucket brigade" and bring wood in thru the sliding glass doors by the hottub.
    • Lock the outhouse and the wood shed, put the keys back.
    • Close the drapes and shutters; be sure the sliding glass door is closed, locked, and braced.
    • Lock the cabin door - both the deadbolt in the lower half of the door, and the upper padlock.

History

What we know of the cabin's past.

"Chapter 8 - Denny Creek Recreational Residence Tract" - National Register Eligibility?

"History of the Trails in the Snoqualmie Pass Area" - Briefly mentions Denny Creek area