A Hike along Ballard's South Shore

Dear Diary,

Whew!  Almost done.  Just some hiking along Shilshole...

EDIT 5/11:  Map:

Well, but first, an old friend.

Salmon Bay Phase I and 

Salmon Bay Phase II

We've encountered this pleasant place at least twice before, dear Diary:  in "The Ballard Seacoast", part I, as Salmon Bay Natural Area; then in "Street Ends: Shilshole Bay", as the 34th Ave NW Street End.  Now above we see its name, or rather names, in the 2020 real property report.

Yet another photo of the place:

And I thought I'd photographed its signage before, but if so, I haven't showed it to you, dear Diary, so here it is:

It was fairly crowded, and I was worried about sunset coming, so I set off again.  The next two stops are also street ends, and are ten blocks apart each.

But I got distracted along the way.  At 30th, by the entrance to

The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and Carl S. English Jr Botanical Garden

Well, even before that, I had another try at photographing one of the tall reddish conifers that I suspect of being redwoods:

 

But then at the gate at 30th, I was gobsmacked to find it open.  Turns out it's back to regular hours:

and if the city ever slows down in the mistreatment of my former and perhaps future peers, so I can spare the time, I'd really like to go back there, tour the place, and tell you all about it, dear Diary.

Last time I visited the 28th Ave NW street end (as recounted in "Street Ends: North-west Salmon Bay"), there was a homeless madwoman there, and I complained that she'd obstructed my photography, so I considered trying again.  But there was another young woman there this time, and although she was to all appearances sane (and housed), I just put it off again.

Ship Canal Water Quality Project

Do you remember, dear Diary, how (in the same previous page), under the influence of a false understanding of street ends, I professed uncertainty in identifying the 24th Ave NW street end?  Well, it turns out the alternative I thought was probably wrong was actually spectacularly wrong.  The building uphill from the actual street end, adjacent to the supposed one, is apparently the headquarters of the whole tunnel-building project.  And its backyard is yet another of the construction sites.

I was dithering about what to photograph when I noticed two geese:

and decided to get out of their way, after taking one photo to prove I'd been there:

Now, near as I can tell, there's been a vast amount of street work going on in Ballard to fix the "missing link" of the Burke-Gilman Trail.  So I decided to try to take the Trail from this site to the last one, instead of Shilshole.  That worked out poorly; I probably wasn't on the actual trail, but anyway came up to a fence that sternly warned against trespassing on the gravel wasteland beyond, as if anyone would want to.  Suddenly Shilshole, right next door, seemed much more appealing.

Shilshole Ave NW itself is actually not that bad, if one knows in advance that all the sidewalks are on the north side of the street.  It's just that it's usually unpleasant before one gets onto it, and it's usually unpleasant after one leaves it, too, walking in the street, on gravel, into oncoming cars' paths, and other nuisances.  This time my negative thoughts as I left Shilshole turned toward the fact that I'd lately kept running into geese, but never ducks any more.  Had we humans just gotten too obtrusive again, and all the ducks I'd seen last year had gone into hiding?  As I thought this, I am truly not making this up, I noticed someone yelling rather loudly ahead of me, over and over, and as I came closer the yells sounded more and more like quacks, and lo:

This particular duck was genuinely aggravated about something, and wouldn't let me get any closer, but I was still thrilled to see it, and continued in a much more cheerful frame of mind to my last stop:

14th Ave NW Boat Ramp

This park hasn't had a "sanican" like its peer on Sunnyside Ave N in the past, and it hasn't acquired one either, let alone a water fountain:

I told you, dear Diary, much too long ago now, that I had errands in Ballard.  They were both in the shopping along Leary, and I'd run one before going north to Greg's Garden and Gilman Playground.  The other was getting groceries at Fred Meyer, and so, having as it turned out beaten sunset by fifteen minutes, I turned to grocery shopping, and getting home in the much greater cold than when I'd set out, and other things that you, as my parks diary, needn't hear about.

It'll be a little while before my next hike.  Happy days until then, dear Diary.