Seattle by foot — June and July
First day in Seattle, we walked through the neighborhood trying to find a grocery store with the help of Google Maps. We walked through Seattle Center watching Space Needle with childlike excitement.
A few days after moving to Seattle we were all set to resume running. We planned to use running as a medium to explore different places in Seattle. We ran in Kinnear Park, Kerry Park, Olympic Sculpture park and lower Queen Anne. Our favorite running destination turned out to be the beautiful Discovery park where we started going regularly on weekends using Sound Transit bus service for commutation. Our plan was to cover the circumference of the park, through the various levels of vegetation from dark thick dense forest to the smaller trees and bushes and finally to the rocks and the sandy shores of the Puget Sound.
Queen Anne Hike: As we like to travel by public transport we searched for hiking groups that use public transport for commutation. That’s when we discovered the Seattle Transit Hikers group lead by Eric. We immediately signed up for our first in-city hike on 4th of July — Queen Anne Staircases, a great hike and workout where we explored the hills and viewpoints of the beautiful Queen Anne which is the highest hill in the city with a maximum elevation of 456 feet.
Lake to Lake Trail: En-thrilled by our first experience we started planning for our next hike on my Birthday. We read about the different hikes on Seattle Metro Bus Hiking website and locked on Bellevue’s Lake to Lake Trail hike. This is an approximately 10 mile long trail which links a string of parks and lakes. Following the trail we walked through dense fir trees, Robinswood park, the trail around Phantom lake, Larsen lake and almost touched Sammamish lake. With this hike we got to walk on Bellevue’s wild side.
Owl Watching: In the second week of July, we attended an Owl watching event in the beautiful Ravenna park. This is the first time we ventured out after dinner time. The couple of minutes from bus stop to the park was a walk in a semi urban paradise. We walked on a street with beautiful houses on both sides. Every house beautiful in a different way. Some had huge windows, others had huge trees while some others had intricate arrangements of blooming plants. Deep sounds from wind chimes would disturb the complete silence occasionally, lending a musical touch to our view. The short walk took us to a park with majestic tall trees with dense greenery. A couple of steps on the bridge and we spotted the group, people below the bridge trying to get a better view with their binoculars, while others trying to get a good shot from their lens. A good view of the owl family awaited us below for a while after which the owls decided to move away, to a place close to the bridge, giving us a long and close view till we had seen our fill and had enough photos.
Vashon Island: The last meet-up of July was in Vashon island. I remember thinking about it, about taking a ferry, about the cold wind in open waters without sound or traffic, other than the waves for company. As we started out on the ferry, with a 360 degrees view of the city, on one side the tall skyscrapers, the hills on another, Rainier greeting from it’s place, the glistening water with the sun shining, the blue everywhere was breath taking.
Once on the island we saw marine creatures as it was a low tide day. We saw big purple Star fishes, Sea pen, crabs, geoduck and many more creatures I had never seen so closely in my life. Experiencing Geoduck squirting water was like watching a musical fountain minus the music. A long walk, long conversations and Christina picking up stranded starfish and crab, leaving them in water for safety from predators marked the beginning of my fun filled friendship with her.
As June and July made way for August, Seattle by foot will keep exploring. More today, than yesterday.
A few days after moving to Seattle we were all set to resume running. We planned to use running as a medium to explore different places in Seattle. We ran in Kinnear Park, Kerry Park, Olympic Sculpture park and lower Queen Anne. Our favorite running destination turned out to be the beautiful Discovery park where we started going regularly on weekends using Sound Transit bus service for commutation. Our plan was to cover the circumference of the park, through the various levels of vegetation from dark thick dense forest to the smaller trees and bushes and finally to the rocks and the sandy shores of the Puget Sound.
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| Discovery park: 534 acres on the shores of Puget Sound. |
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| View of Puget Sound from Discovery Park |
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| Light House in Discovery park |
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| View from park in Queen Anne |
Owl Watching: In the second week of July, we attended an Owl watching event in the beautiful Ravenna park. This is the first time we ventured out after dinner time. The couple of minutes from bus stop to the park was a walk in a semi urban paradise. We walked on a street with beautiful houses on both sides. Every house beautiful in a different way. Some had huge windows, others had huge trees while some others had intricate arrangements of blooming plants. Deep sounds from wind chimes would disturb the complete silence occasionally, lending a musical touch to our view. The short walk took us to a park with majestic tall trees with dense greenery. A couple of steps on the bridge and we spotted the group, people below the bridge trying to get a better view with their binoculars, while others trying to get a good shot from their lens. A good view of the owl family awaited us below for a while after which the owls decided to move away, to a place close to the bridge, giving us a long and close view till we had seen our fill and had enough photos.
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| Barred owl family |
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| View from ferry. |
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| Star fish, sea pen, clam. |
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