Last night I mentioned that I filled two bottles from Northacres Park's winter-hardened water fountains on May 27. I knew this to be a good idea, you see, because I hadn't filled even one bottle at them on May 15, and, wow, did I suffer for that. There's one more pair of restrooms ahead, open, but not one running water fountain out of only four candidates.
From Northacres Playfield I went, both days, back to 1st Ave, and took it south to 117th St, which passes over I-5 to become another instance of 1st Ave. My map claims there are several ways to leave this 1st Ave between I-5 and Northgate Way, but I think the only one that's actually open is 116th St, and it was blocked by construction on May 15. So that day I had to trudge along the edge of a very tedious housing development, getting thirstier all the time, blaming the builders for blocking the exits at 115th and 112th ... Anyway, I strongly recommend anyone taking this path on foot escape via 116th if at all possible. In a car, you're stuck with 1st, because there's a stairway in 3rd. Ultimately you get to
Hubbard Homestead
Visited May 15 and 27; no plumbing
Of course with a name like that I envisioned a historical site, and I was astonished when I got there and realised I was familiar with this history-ignoring park, as you are too if you've caught the Route 41 southward from north of Northgate. It's basically Northgate North's back yard. The 3rd Ave end has a skatepark, the 5th Ave one benches and a basketball hoop or two. In between, a waving field of tallgrass for which a playground is planned, and I can only hope a water fountain too.
Northgate Park
Visited May 15 and 27; one water fountain, not running both times
This is much like Albert Davis Park, sandwiched between a library and a community center, but much bigger, and without (at least both times I visited) campers. Much of the added space is grassy.
Beaver Pond Natural Area
Visited May 15 and briefly May 27; no plumbing
This is the sacrificial goat of the Thornton Creek system. It's right across 5th Ave from the mall, and it was never going to be a quiet place to watch undisturbed wild things. So they built a nice, easy trail, which has four entrances. The one on 105th St west of 8th Ave doesn't have stairs, but all the others - 104th west of 8th, 104th east of 5th, and 103rd east of 5th - do have stairs. This trail keeps you at a little distance from the creek, so unsurprisingly I found at least two short probably-unofficial trails that go right up to the banks; one starts behind the bus shelter on 5th near 103rd. There are reputedly actual beavers.
The Natural Area extends northeast of the trail system, but I've found no entrances or maps, and strongly doubt any plumbing is hidden there.
Victory Creek Park
Visited May 15 for something like an hour, and much more briefly May 27; probably no plumbing
This park confuses me. It has a sign anmouncing some amenities that have pretty well established meanings in Seattle's park system:
The children's play area should mean at least a little playground equipment, and the picnic area should have at least one picnic table. But the only thing I found even remotely resembling either of these is, um, this:
What I did find is a small park consisting mostly of yet another creek, with woods around it laced with trails. Now, I can't imagine that the parks department is lying here, so what can explain this? I think it's obvious: The amenities are underground, and I just never found their entrance. If you wish to explore this possibility, all entrances to the park that I found are from a parking lot at the QFC on Northgate Way.
Another possibility: That's a fake sign. Once I saw such a one naming the micro-park at Olive and Denny "Four Car Park". This one gets the name right but the amenities wrong. Note the atypical typefaces used.
Anyway, the reason I cared is that in Seattle's parks water fountains are strongly attracted to playgrounds. So if you ever do find the play area, let me know whether it has one, would you?
Speaking of which,
Victory Heights Playground
Visited May 15 and 27; one water fountain, not running either time
This is one of two parks in a sort of pocket neighbourhood south of Northgate Way; this one is down 19th Ave from there. It's next to Victory Heights Cooperative School, and the water fountain is attached to the school building. The playground equipment has several translucent panels high up, that on sunny days cast beautiful coloured shadows.
Kingfisher Natural Area
Visited, from different angles, May 15 and 27; probably no plumbing
At the address Google gives this one, where 17th Ave turns into 104th St, there's a very obvious trail that runs quite straight down to the creek. Initially I settled for that, but I started to wonder, and on the 27th decided to use my head start to explore more thoroughly. I started on 15th Ave, and found at 104th St signs naming the place (absent at the alleged main address) and announcing a trail. This turned vertical almost immediately, and, fed up with shying away from such trails, I parked the cart and went in. Some time later - probably a quarter or even half an hour - I found an unofficial exit where another 17th Ave dead ends north of 100th St. My trail was easy to discern, but it met many other trails, I know of no map, and I think anything from a water fountain to the original Crystal Palace could be hidden here, but probably isn't. The trail I spent that time on is relatively hard, I was very glad I'd brought my umbrella, and frankly amazed I escaped not covered in mud. So I promptly gave up on any more thorough exploration.
On the 15th, though confounded by map errors, I managed to exit the neighbourhood of Victory Heights to Lake City Way, took it to 98th St, and then went south on 20th Ave. This may be the steepest street I've ever climbed, and I can't recommend doing it while pushing a cart and dying of thirst. Maple Leaf is actually one of Seattle's tallest hills, and our next park faces south from near the peak.
Sacajawea Playground
Visited May 15; no plumbing
This is another park that stretches the meaning of Seattle parks' terminology. Sacajawea Elementary School, behind the park, has some playground equipment, but the park has none. It's mostly a grassy indentation in the hillside, surrounded by trees, with one giant tree in the middle. I saw some teenagers there, but no kids.
Downhill, at 82nd St, we get to the only one of these parks with a restroom. I took 15th Ave to it on May 15, but on May 27, skipping Sacajawea, went back to Roosevelt before starting south, which was a much more bearable slope.
Maple Leaf Reservoir Park
Visited May 15 and 27; one pair of restrooms, open both times, and one water fountain (I think), not running both times
This isn't actually a very big park, but it seems limitless. There's a bunch of sport space toward the 14th Ave side, while the Roosevelt side has the playground and restrooms, with the water fountain well hidden north of the latter. I used the men's room on the 15th and it worked fine.
I also finally got desperate enough that day to try something I imagine your readers, dear Diary, have probably wondered at my not doing long since: drinking from the sink. See, I grew up with a fiberglass hot water heater, which taught me to worry about pipes; I figure if the parks people give us both sinks and water fountains, they must have a reason for doing so.
On the 27th, coming south on Roosevelt, I discovered the park's upstairs, which has yet more sport space plus lots of grass space for future sports or present comtemplation. I found, however, no plumbing upstairs. The upstairs does have, on clear days, great views of the city and the mountains; I saw both Mount Rainier and the Cascades.
Both days, I continued down Roosevelt to 75th St (on the 15th buying a can of soda from the Peruvian restaurant on the way). On the 26th I'd taken a bus to Lake City, my first time taking the cart on one, so on the 27th, after visiting the Safeway there (and using its men's room), I caught a bus back to campus. On the 15th, however, I was there for a little park hidden on Banner Place south of 75th.
Rainbow Point
Visited May 15; no plumbing
This is a small park nestled between major roads; it basically exists for its views, with plants strategically placed to edit the roads out of those views. Not a bad place to sit a while.
From there I trudged down Roosevelt to 65th St to cross I-5 for the tour's last park.
NE 60th Street Park
Visited May 15; no plumbing
Since I-5 curves, it repeatedly creates awkward bits of land where it meets grid-pattern streets, and one of those is a small triangular park. At its north end it's wide enough to look like woods; at its south end it's just a line of trees. I saw hints at the north end that someone might have lived there.
Then I hiked south to 50th St to re-cross I-5 and head for campus.
So ends my story of May 14 and 15, but there's one more chapter to the May 26 and 27 tale, which I hope to tell tomorrow. Until then, dear Diary.
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