Hike 22: Ballard Locks to West Point

Driving there:  Find your way to the Ballard Locks, aka Hiram M. Chittenden locks.  Parking is expensive and limited to four hours.  Free street parking is available to the north.

We started by touring the locks.

When we were kids we called this the octopus.

Big locks.

Little locks

Spillway.  Fish ladder on right.

Looking west.

Bascule bridge with 500 ton counterweight.

We watched a few boats come and go and toured the fish ladder, but no fish today.  We hiked through Commodore park and up the streets into Discovery park, formerly Fort Lawton.  It's a maze of streets and trails, but there are lots of signs to guide you.  Click here for a very nice map.

Wildflowers and Puget Sound.

Lisa learns about the dangers of putting toxic butter on varnished clams.

West Point lighthouse.

Puget Sound.  We made it!

Click here for a map of our route.  It's slow to load, but you can zoom in for all the details.

This concludes our Mountains to Sound Greenway adventure.  We started on September 7, 2013 and finished on May 25, 2014.  We walked over 90 miles.  And we may be the only people alive who have walked all the way across King County!

Hike 21: Gasworks park to Ballard Locks

Driving there:  Find your way to Gasworks park, there's lots of free parking but it's a popular place.

Gasworks park is an interesting place to wander through.  It's an abandoned industrial plant, converted into a park. 

The ubiquitous Gasworks perspective photo.  It's required of all visitors.

 

 

Lisa and the big city.

 

At the top of the hill there's a 360 degree view, and an interesting sundial.  You stand on the date, and your shadow shows the time.  Standard time.  If it's summer, you probably need to spring forward an hour.

 

Moving on, we continued down the Burke-Gilman trail.  We took a small detour under the Aurora bridge to see the Troll.

I barely escaped with my life...

After viewing the artistic wonders of Fremont, we continued west.  The Burke-Gilman trail is missing a section, so we had to detour a block north and find our way to the Ballard Locks. 

Railroad bridge at the Ballard Locks.  The right-hand section tilts back to allow tall boats through.

Hike 20: Seattle, University Village to Gasworks Park

Driving there:  From 520, take the Montlake exit and go north.  Montlake turns gently east and becomes NE 45th St.  At a 5-way intersection, turn 45 degrees left onto NE 45th Pl.  After you cross the Burke-Gilman trail turn right onto NE Blakely St.  Street parking is free in the neighborhood.


After getting our palms read at Bill's Butcher Shop, we headed west on the Burke-Gilman trail. It was cloudy but nice today.  There's a construction detour that takes the Burke Gilman trail through the UW campus.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I implore you...

UW

Lisa

UW

The detour signs left us hanging, so we wandered downhill and found the trail again.

I-5 bridge over Lake Union

And eventually to Gasworks Park.  If you've never been there, it's worth your time to walk around and see the sights.

Hike 19: Seattle, Matthews Beach to University Village

Driving there:  From 522/Lake City way, turn east onto NE 95th street.  Turn right on Sand Point Way.  Turn left on NE 93rd street.  Turn left into Matthews Beach Park. 

This hike is pretty much the same as the last one.  A little rain, a little wind, and not much sun.  It was a nice walk, but nothing out of the ordinary until we reached Bill's Butcher Shop, with Palm Reading, Psychic, and Tarot Cards.

  

I guess we're definitely in Seattle now! We ended our walk just east of University Village.

Hike 18: Lake Forest Park - Lake City - Seattle (153rd to 95th)

Driving there:  From Bothell Way NE (aka Hwy 522) turn east on NE 153rd.  At the bottom of the hill there are three parking spaces.  Get there early if you want one!

This section of trail is level and fairly straight, with a nice tree canopy over much of it. 

We had a nice spring day.  The trail has been paved ever since the Sammamish river, and I suppose it will be for the rest of the way.  No mud, but it's a little hard on the feet.  This part of the trail has bikers, joggers, and walkers, but no horses!

We ended our hike at Matthews Beach Park.  We're in Seattle now.  We've decided to make Discovery Park our final destination.