When I left the Ballard Locks from the previous post, it was only about 2 or 3 pm. That left me plenty of time to take a quick stroll over to the West Point Lighthouse located on the western edge of Discovery Park. According to my phone, it was going to be 2.4 miles; I had nowhere to be so let’s do it.
Discovery Park
This is going to sound really dumb, but one thing that surprises me a lot about the Seattle area is the lush and green vegetation. My frame of reference for “mountains” is Montana and Colorado — arid, dry landscapes where chapstick is required every 20 minutes or else your lips will literally split. And I knew that it rains nine months out of the year in Seattle, but somehow I never put two and two together and expected to see plant life like what I saw in Discovery Park.
I also wasn’t prepared for Discovery Park itself. In the Midwest, where I more or less spent the last 30 years of my life, a park would have paved paths and they’re about the size of a postage stamp. Here, I got to experience a taste of this “hiking” that everyone puts on their Tinder profiles. Except it was wet and I was wearing tennis shoes. I made sure to avoid the really squishy bits to keep my shoes clean, and followed the path.
Along the way, I also realized how wonderfully serious the PNW takes parks. Not only did they have no paved paths, but it’s also not a curated and carefully cultivated selection of plantlife. Discovery Park is closer to just a patch of woods left untouched in an otherwise rapidly developing city.
Eventually I came to a fork in the road. And I took the path less travelled.
Okay, it was actually the path more travelled because it went to the West Point Lighthouse, but I really wanted to make that joke on this blog. And yes, I took the picture just so I could make said joke.
West Point Lighthouse
In the summer, mountains flank the West Point Lighthouse on all sides. Today, it was cloudy (still) so the water, the lighthouse, and the driftwood that washed ashore on the beach would have to be picturesque enough.
Today, the lighthouse is automated and the lighthouse keeper’s cabin remains, but is no longer lived in.
As darkness fell (at 4 pm), I started to head back up to the buses to head home. I followed the paved path (because you can just drive down to the lighthouse, if you’d like), and came across this rare pupper who would not drop the stick in his mouth. He simply walked along side his owner, jaws grasping this wet piece of wood. It was hard to get a picture of him because he kept walking around, but I got one that I liked.
I don’t know his name.
And I wasn’t kidding about darkness falling quickly. By the time I got back to the bus shelter, it was dark outside. And I took the opportunity to get a low-light picture of the bus driver.
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while I’ve been pretty crap at updating this, others have not. Linkups, like The Faraway Files below, are chalk-full of people who can handle an editorial calendar. So read, enjoy, get inspired.
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My brother lives in Seattle and very outdoorsy (what Seattle resident isn’t?) – I will have to ask him about this. Looks lush and beautiful! Thanks for linking up with #farawayfiles