So, finally a few pictures from my ramble on the hill at Golden Gardens. Even though the beach and marsh are the famous part, the area on the hill below Loyal Heights bluff and the dog park are utterly gorgeous this time of year, so here are some photos to prove there is an upside to all the rain we get here in Seattle.
This is where you enter from the shore.
The mysterious entrance under the railroad tracks...
The mosaics are a little scruffy at the moment, but what can you expect of something made of found tile, glass, and mirror?
Pass under the railroad tracks and go up a cobbled street. Then turn across the parking lot to find the trails.
A long staircase up to the trails
Oh, come, come; it’s not that bad…
Long, Tall and Steep
All right, maybe it is. The stairs and most of the park’s many water courses and routing are made of scavenged cement slabs from projects that date back to the WPA of the 1930s and even to the park’s founding in the early 1900s, when it was built to encourage real estate sales in the area.
But there are lots of less-intimidating routes. Especially if you start at the off-leash area near the top of the park.
Here is one of the trails on the hillside, just a few dozen yards from the dog park. Although only the designated and fenced area is off-leash, many people do walk their dogs here both on and off leash and doggy footprints abound wherever the paths get muddy. But most people are good about picking up anything else their pets may leave….
Follow the trail, my dear... it's perfectly safe. Really.
There’s a lot to see in the park if you are interested in nature and even if you are interested in how people interact with nature.
Tree with rope swing and.. wood swing?
This tree has a very long rope swing and what looks like an unsuccesful attempt at a bench swing. The drop on the other side of the tree is about 20 feet into bracken and brambles, so… be careful, swingers!
There are lots of flowers hidden in the rambling forest of Golden Gardens.
Tiny white flowers under a tree
Blue Flowers
Don’t know what these flowers are called, but there were a lot of them hanging out in the shade and near the streams.
A foreigner gone native: Turkish Blackberry blossoms
Turkish Blackberries have white blossoms, big thorns, and thick canes; they’ve nearly overrun the native species.
The native Cascade or Mountain Blackberry blossom
But not quite. The tiny Cascade Blackberry is more delicate and has a bright pink blossom, which is rare to see, and produces smaller, sweeter fruit. If you can find it.
Flowers love mossy trees
Everything loves trees, even moss! Or especially moss.
Moss: up close and personal
But it’s time to go… back down the long staircase. Looks even longer and steeper from here.
The long staircase back to the parking lot
Be sure to check out the daisies in the lawn by the shore, turning their faces toward the westering sun, as you leave.
Don't forget the grass daisies
Bye-bye daisies.
The blue flowers are foxglove.
Ha! *I* could have told her that! But does she ask me? no.
Just because I am able to kill plants with a single misplaced word, doesn’t mean I can’t google them.
Brilliant! I want to go there when I come to see you! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful place..
I thought foxgloves were tall spikes of bell shaped flowers with spots on the body… I’ve never seen blue ones and those are quite short, not even knee-high.
I think these are some kind of bell flower, they aren’t very tall and don’t have the protruding “tongue” of digitalis or penstemon.
It’s so… green! Just wonderful. And the picture of the moss is amazing.
The moss kind of freaked me out when I saw it up close. You can’t really see the details with the naked eye.
Sorry gang, the blue flowers are wood hyacinth, sometimes called bluebells. They are members of the liliaceae family. The leaves and stocks at the white flowers appear to be miners lettuce but the flowers appear to be wood violets or oxalis, I would have to see them in person to hazard a better guess.