Hike 5A: Far and Mid-Northwest

Dear Diary,

On January 11, as I thought I'd managed to tell you last night but apparently not, I woke in Carkeek Park's shelter 2.  I've already described much of how I spent that day, but I did also get to three parks with sanitary facilities, before heading to Green Lake and Woodland Parks in another attempt to figure out what hours their restrooms really kept.

Carkeek Park

Carkeek Park has only one pair of restrooms with doors facing outside.  Its maps clarify:  under normal circumstances, there are restrooms in the Environmental Learning Center at the other end of the park.  Compared to other large parks - even Magnuson, let alone Green Lake or Woodland - this seems few.  But at least the restrooms open in this plague year are enormous.

The open doors:

The map provided by the City of Seattle's Department of Human Services, Homeless Strategy and Investment Division, also says there are two regular "sanican"s in the park, and there are, but not next to the restrooms as is usual in the parks of North Seattle; instead they're placed in separate locations where they can be useful, one at the far end of the greenswards from the restrooms, the other in the Environmental Learning Center.  See if you can guess which is which, dear Diary:

Well, I didn't say how they were being useful!  Yes, the second photo is the one at the ELC, which may be closed but is obviously still supporting some sort of environmental learning.

After the insane journey described in the previous page, I went to one of the parks I'd given up on visiting the previous day.

Soundview Playfield

I introduced this park to you, dear Diary, July 1 in "What Can a Hill Do with a Crown?"  I've mentioned it since in "The Water Fountains of Ballard, mid-October 2020", December 16.

These hikes were meant to check the map already linked to; I'm also comparing the results to the list of park restrooms that were advertised as staying open last winter, 2019-2020.  Neither map nor list mentions the restrooms at Soundview, and as usual in such cases, they're closed.

The building:

The closed doors:

The rain was still coming down, and I sheltered awhile under the eaves of the adjacent Whitman Middle School.  But a lot of staffers were there that day, so I couldn't really unmask and eat, which eventually dislodged me.

I was at 15th Ave NW and NW 85th St, heading back to Green Lake Park but knowing I was too early, when I remembered one more park north of NW 65th St.

Webster Park

This small park first appeared in you, dear Diary, June 28 in "A Lazy Day on Loyal Heights", and then in "Water Fountains" like Soundview Playfield.

It has a "sanican" well hidden in the southwestern corner of the paved basketball court, all of which is south of the more obviously parklike parts of the park.

And that was it for January 11.  I did get to Green Lake and Woodland Parks that evening, but their hours have nothing to do with Northwest Seattle, so for now, we're done, dear Diary.

Except that I'm about to drag you off-topic again.