Japanese Gulch Trail - June 26, 2014

We went on another short, but nice hike on the Japanese Gulch Trail in Mukilteo this week. We walked between 2 1/2 and 3 miles and spent about an hour and a half divided between walking and eating lunch. There have been many improvements to the trail since the last time I visited. You no longer have to pull yourself up a steep hill with a rope. This section was replaced by stairs. There are many other muddy or steep areas that now have wooden boardwalks or bridges. We also decided to check out the 1/4 mile interpretive trail on the opposite side (North) of the road from the main Japanese Gulch site (where the dog park is). This trail begins a little bit east of the main site and dead-ends at Mukilteo Lane. Nice interpretive signs and lots of berries ripe at the time I hiked, both huckleberries and thimble berries.

A bumblebee visiting some St. John's Wort near the trailhead.

The only fungus picture I took

Western Tiger Swallowtail

Ripe Thimbleberries 

Happy summer hiking!

Maple Leaf and Thornton Creek Stairway Walk ~ February 9, 2013

Here are the stairs at the very beginning of the walk that
brought us down from the
bridge at the top of the picture across a green area
and into another neighborhood.

This was one of the Feet First Stairway Walks Day walks. This was the second walk that I've done from the Seattle Stairway Walks book. Unlike the first one of the stairway walks that I did, this one had a guide who already knew the walking area.

Here is our guide Carolyn, giving us some
background about the walk.

This North Seattle walk is 4.7 miles long and takes you through neighborhoods, natural areas, a community pea patch, and an urban area adjacent to the Northgate Mall. You do cross several busier streets, so if you are walking with children, keep this in mind.

Crossing a bridge

Looking down

 One minute you are on the beaten path...and then you are in the middle of nature.

This heron was in one of the wetland areas

I thought it was kind of funny how it looks like the duck is spitting the water out.

A tree that the beavers worked on.

Along the trail

The only fungus I saw

Beautiful red bark

 And then you arrive at the mall! We stopped at The Jewel Box Cafe for a cup of tea and a muffin, as well as a restroom stop before we headed back out again.

 We saw a lot of beautiful art.

This is an area where Thornton Creek runs through the Thornton Place Condominiums.

After leaving the mall we walked through a community pea patch with more artwork and stairs.

 This was an interesting walk. It's kind of fun to see how many natural areas you can find so close to the urban ones.


Happy trails.

P.S. I finally ordered the Stairway Walks Seattle book and should have it soon.

The Olmsted Vision Stairway Walk - Seattle - January 13, 2013

One of several sets of stairs that we walked.

This was a really fun urban walk that I did with a friend. The walk comes from a book called Seattle Stairway Walks An Up And Down Guide To City Neighborhoods. The name of the walk is The Olmsted Vision. This walk takes you through three parks; Washington Park Arboretum, Interlaken Park and Volunteer park. More about the walk in a minute. An interesting Washington State History tie in to my last post about Northern State Hospital. The Olmsted Firm (a very historically significant landscape architecture firm) designed both the grounds of Northern State Hospital and the three parks above as well as other parks and grounds across the country from 1857-1979. Okay, enough history. I just thought it was interesting and had to share.

The whole idea of urban stairway walks is new to me. I had no idea that such a book existed. It's a great way to be able to get your exercise walking in the city, but it's also very similar to hiking with all of the stairs you go up and down.

We parked on a neighborhood street near the Montlake Branch of the Seattle Public Library. We went on a Sunday, so street parking didn't have a time limit. There are public transit options and other parking options listed in the book. If you decide to do this walk or others in the book you will definitely need the book for the maps and details. My local Snohomish County Library has the book and I'm on the waitlist for it now, although I'm thinking about purchasing it.

A beautiful bench along the route

We followed the map and route from the book, walking for a while and then stopping at the Volunteer Park Cafe for a delicious snack (I had coffeecake) and tea. After we finished our snack, we headed back out along the route.

We climbed more stairs...

Soon we arrived at Volunteer Park.

We saw a peek-a-boo view of the Space Needle through a sculpture.

 There wasn't much color out on this cold, winter day, but I spotted these and had to take a picture.

Another, natural set of stairs.

Which brought us to the Volunteer Park Water Tower with more stairs and beautiful views!

Climbing the water tower stairs.

View of the Space Needle from the water tower.

Seattle Skyline from the water tower

St. Joseph Catholic Church in the distance

A beautiful home outside Volunteer Park

Who knew there was an urban mountain bike skills park right under I-5?

A little more winter color I spotted:

Anyone have any idea what this is?

We walked past the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery. A Civil War cemetery.

Another beautiful view of the Seattle Skyline with the mountains in the background.

Another set of stairs to climb.

 A couple of fungus pictures, just because I couldn't help myself. ;-)

And a pretty piece of glass that I spotted in someone's garden along the way.

I highly recommend giving one of these stairway walks a try. There's no better way to spend a dreary winter day than exploring an interesting area that's close to home.

I'm going on another Stairway Walk this weekend. Stairway Walks Day is happening on Saturday and I'll be going on the Maple Leaf and Thornton Creek walk. I'll blog about it soon and let you know what I thought.

Happy Trails!