Southeast of Carkeek Park

Today, my friend and I went to look at the Street Edge Alternatives (SEA) project and walked the nearby neighborhood around Carkeek Park. We walked most of the streets from NW 115th to 120th between 2nd and 10th Avenues NW.

The SEA project runs from NW 117th to 120th Streets along 2nd Avenue NW. Here is a link to the project's website. This street is lovely to look at and is environmentally friendly to Piper Creek because the surfaces and plantings minimize toxic runoff.

The neighborhood just west of this street is quiet, well kept and beautifully situated around Carkeek Park with views of Puget Sound. Houses are expensive and even the streets which were not in the SEA project are appealing.

Our 4 mile walk took us into Carkeek Park via a footpath off NW 116th just above the Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center.

The streets around the SEA project are level; those close to the park are hilly. Territorial and sound views and great native plants made this a truly enjoyable walk.

North Matthew's Beach

Today, my husband and I filled in all the streets we'd missed from NE 105th to 115th between Sand Point Way and Lake Washington and we were rewarded with beautiful views.

This is a hilly, environmentally sensitive area above the Burke Gilman Trail and many of the homes have been rebuilt to take advantage of the views.

Some of the homes are built near ravines, some are quite large and some of the streets have a crowded feel but it is still a quiet, well-tended neighborhood.

We had thought that seeing a house built on a stilt-like foundation, another with a swimming pool in a front yard and yet another with a tennis court was impressive but then we had an eagle sighting!

As we walked along Exeter between 107th and 110th, one of the neighbors asked if we'd heard the eagle. We hadn't but he was able to point out the eagle sitting in a tree in the back yard of one of the houses on the east side of the street.

This was an eventful 4.2 mile walk.

Meadowbrook Pond

Yesterday, my husband and I walked all the streets between NE 105th and 110th Streets from 35th Avenue NE to Sand Point Way NE plus a few streets east of Sand Point Way (mostly Durland Avenue). This pleasant walk was 5.8 miles, had us again intersecting Thornton Creek and took us through Meadowbrook Pond. The Pond area was thoughtfully created and is a sanctuary within this neighborhood. Here, we viewed wildlife, public art and neighbors enjoying the environment.

John Rogers Elementary school is within the area we walked and Nathan Hale High School and the Meadowbrook Pool and Community Center abut it. We noted quite a few potholes on Sand Point Way and a passing truck blew my hat off as we tried to navigate this sidewalk-less stretch. Many of the streets west of Sand Point Way dead-ended and a ravine seemed to wind its way through back yards giving the area a country-ish feel.

Durland Avenue, on the east side of Sand Point Way, had less vegetation, probably to take advantage of the great views of Lake Washington (especially from the northern part of Durland).

This walk was a nice way to start the day.

Alicia Park and Meadowbrook

Yesterday, my husband and I continued our walk through Alicia Park and Meadowbrook. We walked all the streets between 35th and 40th Avenues NE from NE 95th to 105th Street and filled in a few streets we'd missed on our last walk. Because of all the doubling back, this walk was 6.8 miles.

The sun was out and the air felt balmy after the cold and snow we'd had last week. We kept running into Thornton Creek on our last walk and we kept running into the Mock Creek Ravine on this walk. This is an environmentally sensitive area and I was amazed at how close some of the homes were to the ravine.

We never knew when a dead end street would dead end for walkers as well as cars but discovered foot paths connecting the two ends of 39th Avenue and the two ends of 40th Avenue. We could not find a way to walk from one end of 97th street to the other and, when we asked one of the residents, we were told there was no way through the ravine at this point.

Again, we noted that Alicia Park has sidewalks and underground utilities. It appears that these amenities significantly add to the asking prices of homes in that area.

The neighborhood includes the One Life Community Church and the Korean Peace Presbyterian Church. The main intersection of 35th Avenue NE and NE 95th Street is home to Bill Waters Spirit Service Station, Johnson's Auto Repair, the NorthEast Veterinary Clinic, a chiropractor's and an old fashioned looking barber shop (open 7 days a week).

This is a quiet, well kept neighborhood and a great place to walk.

Meadowbrook, Alicia Park, Matthews Beach, Thornton Creek

Today, my husband and I walked most of the streets between NE 95 and NE 105th Streets and between 40th Avenue NE and Sand Point Way NE. There were a lot of dead end streets so we wound up walking some street 2 or 3 times and walked a total of 5.4 miles.

Thornton Creek runs diagonally through this neighborhood and seems to turn up all over the place. Parts of the neighborhood has tall trees and the curb appeal varies by street. Any street with few cars is more appealing. Some streets have sidewalks, curbs and underground utilities. Some don't have underground utilities and some don't have sidewalks or curbs. The drainage varies from street to street as does the number of potholes. On the whole, it's a quiet, residential neighborhood with home prices in about the middle range of neighborhoods, I have walked thus far.

On 105th Street, we passed a playfield which abuts John Rogers elementary school. The neighborhood is moderately hilly and looks almost suburban with fair sized lots. We passed a house with a full-sized tennis court in its backyard and another with Thornton Creek running underneath. We met a few dog walkers and a few pedestrians.

Seattle in the snow

My husband and I took a walk in the snow on November 23rd. I didn't keep track of where we went or how far we traveled but did get some nice shots of Seattle neighborhoods in the snow.

Shilshole Bay and Sunset Hill

Last Sunday, my husband and I walked from Golden Gardens to Ray's Boat House, crossed the Burke Gilman Trail, then walked north in the Sunset Hill neighborhood until we could wind our way back to Golden Gardens. The round trip was just about 6 miles because of all the dead end streets we covered twice.

Seaview Avenue NW runs along the Bay and was unusually quiet on this cool autumn day. We passed the beach at Golden Gardens, some condos with great views of the Sound (even though it was overcast and the mountains weren't visible that day), Shilshole Marina, a few shops and some restaurants with great views and outdoor spaces.

After crossing the trail and climbing up to the Sunset Hill neighborhood, we encountered a lot of dead end streets but still had some great views. We passed Sunset Hill Park and walked north looking for a street to take us back down to the Sound. We missed the staircase at NW 85th Street so had to navigate the road down by the dog run - not a good walking area.

All in all it was good walk with some hills, a mix of busy and quiet streets and great views.