carkeek park

Be Careful at Carkeek

/ Seattle Park Lover / 5 Comments

I was at Carkeek Park last night and discovered that the park road did not come through the frozen winter and spring melt unscathed. (That may be an overly dramatic description of Seattle weather, but we did have a real winter this year.)  There are several quite serious potholes. So be careful driving through lest you break your car.

Also, on my way out I saw two glittering piles of car window glass on the pavement in the lower meadow parking area. Obviously two cars had been broken into, probably while their owners were out on the trails.

It’s an unfortunate fact of life that Seattle’s most popular parks attract thieves along with lovers of the great outdoors. Golden Gardens can be especially bad at times. If you will be leaving your car at a park for an extended time in order to take a promenade, hike a trail, or picnic somewhere in the distance, make sure you don’t leave anything visible in the car that would tempt someone to break in and grab it. Whenever possible, try to engage in your park activities in sight of where you parked so you can keep an eye on things.

 

All About Apples

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On Saturday, September 24th the Friends of Piper’s Orchard will be hosting the 10th Annual Festival of Fruit from 10 am to 2 pm at the Environmental Center in Carkeek Park.

The apple orchard was originally planted in the 1890s on land that eventually became part of one of Seattle’s most popular parks. Friends of Piper’s Orchard is a group of volunteers who rescued the orchard from invasive plants and work to preserve the health of the orchard so it will last for many years to come.

The festival is free to the public and activities will include an apple pie contest, cider pressing, live music, and orchard tours. See this Parkways post for full details.

Salmon Viewing at Carkeek Park

/ Seattle Park Lover / 1 Comment

Coho and chum salmon are running in Piper’s Creek in November and December. If you’ve ever been interested in learning more about salmon in Seattle’s urban creeks this is a great opportunity.

Trained guides will be available in the lower meadow at Carkeek Park 11 am – 2 pm every Saturday and Sunday from November 7th until December 6th. The guides will facilitate salmon viewing and provide information on how to help perpetuate these urban salmon runs.

This is a chance to see and learn more about nature in one of our city’s neatest parks. There is no need to sign up, just drop in any time during the listed hours and look for one of the salmon stewards in blue vests.

Happy Place

/ Seattle Park Lover / 2 Comments

The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge topic this week is “happy place.” My go-to Happy Place is physically too far away when I need it most. So it’s the place I always visualize in my head when I’m having trouble falling asleep or need to find some mental calm. This photo isn’t of the exact spot, which is up the valley a ways, tucked among mountains next to a river and meadow. My pictures of the Happy Place are all packed away in childhood photo albums. But this spot is part of the general area and seeing it still invokes all the peace and contentment associated with my Happy Place.

 

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