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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Mount Baker

Today's walk started outside the Mount Baker Community Club which appears to be home to the Central Branch Preschool. My husband and I walked 4.5 miles filling in missed streets between 34th Avenue S and Lake Washington from S College to S Horton Street.

This is an area of lovely boulevards,

beautiful homes,

lake views,

tennis courts, playgrounds

and a small commercial area near 35th and McClellan

which is also home to the Mount Baker Apartments.

Homes east of Mt Rainier Dr and Hunter Blvd S are grand and many have lake views

and well-tended gardens.

There is even a lookout area where Cascadia Avenue starts to drop down towards the lake.

West of Mt Rainier Drive and Hunter Blvd, the houses are smaller but still nice.




Along the way, we spotted some interesting yard art,





Trudy Sanders Triangle







and Horton Hill Corridor Park.




We spotted quite a few families and young children in the playgrounds and near the commercial area. This is probably a great area for families who can afford to live here.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Jackson Park Perimeter Trail

Today's walk didn't cover any new streets so I'm not counting the 2.5 miles in my running total but I do want to note this nice new walking trail around Jackson Golf Course.

My husband and I started from the golf course parking lot and walked west (clockwise) around the golf course. Our first sight was a lovely woodland setting.

Proceeding along the trail, we came to a protective fence which shielded us from possible misdirected golf balls.

Turning north, we walked parallel to I-5 which was noisy but offered great views of the golf course.

Turning east, we walked along 145th Street then turned south near 12th Avenue NE and were rewarded with more nice views.

The trail was hilly in spots and we got a good workout.


Friday, February 15, 2013

Columbia City

Today's walk was a short 2.8 miles but my husband and I still enjoyed our visit to Columbia City where we walked tidy streets and admired houses old and new, large and small.
















This area bounded by Rainier Avenue S, s Ferdinand Street, 47th Avenue S and S Brandon Street is dominated by Orcas K-8 School.

It is also home to PIMM Tabernacle AME Church,


Group Health and Kin On Health Care Center.

We spotted a great play structure

and on the 43rd Avenue dead-end, a construction site which made us wonder what was under way.

Columbia City is always an enjoyable neighborhood.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day




No new streets walked today but Happy Valentine's Day to all people and to Seattle, a very walkable city.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Northeast Mount Baker

The majority of today's walk was sandwiched between the I-90 lid, 31st Avenue S, Colman Park and Lake Washington. My husband and I got wet (and my camera lens got foggy) during this 4.7 mile Mount Baker walk but many things made it worthwhile.



We started by climbing 103 steps at Day Street and admiring what may be the cleanest underpass area in the city.



At the top of the hill, we saw some large homes,

the view from East Portal Viewpoint and a number of plaques declaring the bridge and tunnels a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and honoring Homer M. Hadley (who conceived this application for concrete), Lacey V. Murrow (who led project design and construction) and the contractors who worked on the bridge and tunnels.


The bridge was built in 1940 and was the world's first reinforced concrete floating bridge and the largest floating structure ever built. The tunnels were the largest diameter soft-earth tunnels when completed in 1940.




We walked the winding boulevard through Colman Park (an Olmsted Legacy Park), observing a large community garden

and artistic landscaping

before coming to the Ellsworth Storey Cottages National Historic District. "Between 1910 and 1915, Storey designed a set of cottages near Colman Park on Lake Washington Boulevard. Although modest, and built as a developmental enterprise, these houses were more influential than many of his more impressive works. These houses, looking much like bungalows, used generous amounts of local lumber and had wide projecting eaves covering ample porches. This method of building suited the house’s natural surroundings.
Storey was perhaps the first Seattle architect to integrate directly local materials with architectural design. This practice, later known as "regionalism," was highly influential in Seattle architecture of the middle- and late-twentieth century". (from linked page above)















We continued on to Mount Baker Park and back north to Day Street, observing staircases and shore view access points along the way.

This area has quite a few vacant lots and some impressive homes.

It is home to Saint Clement's Episcopal ChurchSponge (language classes for kids) and a "No Camping" sign which has been modified to say "Snow Camping" - we did not see any campers.

Mount Baker has a lot to offer and we enjoyed our walk in the rain. Only the constant sound of traffic from I-90 detracts from this neighborhood.