Smilin' Jack: Lincoln Park

Or - Oh, What Tangled Webs We Weave...

It was a day for this and that…dandelions, birds, plants, leaves, spider webs and rats with bushy tails. It was a day for discovery and the same old thing. Oh, and selfies, too. Gotta have those. It was a day for adventure and a long walk…down the hill and then up the hill.

It was a day to do the same thing and to do something new. No plans for anything, but everything worked out perfectly. It was a day to take some pictures and to make some memories.

So, let's get started. Feeling antsy, I went to Google Map to see what there was around Seattle that we haven't been to and which wasn't too far away. Boom!! There it was!! Along the Puget Sound, Lincoln Park. Right next to the ferry to Vashon Island.

And it was a kick in the pants. It's an absolute jewel right in the city. And, for me, it started with dandelions.

And quickly escalated to this. The colors explode…they captivate. I really enjoyed seeing these beauties and they began to make me feel better.

As we wandered up the trail, slowly, we saw a number of spider webs. Different kinds of spiders. Like this Bad Boy. Hanging in the afternoon sun, waiting…

Carol calls this an orb weaver spider web.

The park was full of delights. We saw these, too.

Mother Nature kicks butt.

Then Carol heard this guy and there he was, up the tree, almost directly over our heads. Bad angle, but he was a good poser. A Steller's Jay with his distinctive 'cheep'.

Somehow I managed to get this one good shot. He hopped around, up in the branches and then gave me this profile.

Trail Selfie Alert!!

Haha, I warned you!! It was a beautiful day and we took full advantage of it going for a good walk through the park.

And we found an overlook and saw the Vashon Ferry coming in.

And just to the right was this trailhead…The North Beach Trail. It wasn't so much a trail as it was a trial.

Hahahaha, a trial of endurance.

Because, this is what the trail looked like.

Honestly, I wasn't feeling it. Not at all.

After laughing at the thought of going down those steps and then, having gone down, having to come all the way back up we kept on walking. It was, honestly, a ridiculous thought.

Hahahaha, I'd never do it. Never in a million years.

So I turned back to the easier and more pleasant things…like flowers. And found these.

There was some beautiful light out today.

Great for back-lit leaves.

And this one, too.

The trees were big and varied. I don't know this one but it had these…knots? all around.

And a lot of spider webs. This one was woven by a different kind of spider. Kind of like a net that sags in the middle and quite unlike the orb spider's web.

Lots of crows out. Brassy and sassy and always on the look-out for a hand-out. I just can't find anything beautiful about these feathered rodents. Not a thing.

And this. These were hanging in clumps and clusters around the park. I don't know what they are but they were all over.

And then we spotted this fine fellow sunning himself on a branch. A little brassy, too. They aren't cute, just rats with bushy tails.

And, as we walked, we got to see some of the Sound. That could be Blake Island there in the distance. Or, maybe Bainbridge. I'm not sure.

The Park had a lot of trails. We stayed on the one that paralleled the shoreline of the Sound.

And kept on enjoying the sights and the sounds.

After walking along the crest of the hill overlooking the Sound, we came to a path going down towards the shore and, foolishly, took it. I say foolishly because I knew once I went down, sure as shootin', I'd have to go back up.

But I figured I could take it in bites and eventually I'd get back up to the top. It was worth it, we both felt, because we could both hear the waves lapping up onto the beach and we both wanted to go down and see it.

So we started down that stupid path. And ran across this guy. He is, as near as Carol can make out, a Winter Wren. He stays on the ground scratching out his food there.

and we passed a number of hollowed out tree trunks, like this one. Maybe lightening struck it and it was split, but this one side still stood up. Is that a moss growing on it? We think so.

We made it down to the beach just in time to see the Vashon Ferry making another round…not quite as big as the Bainbridge Island Ferry.

And we got a great view of the islands across the Puget Sound.

And then this. The Whale Trail. I didn't realize that we might be able to see all these different marine creatures. Course, we didn't see a single one but it was fun to look out for them. And for the Eagles and Ospreys, too. Didn't see either of those.

Ratz.

But we did get to walk along the shoreline and see the driftwood and the woods.

And the fishermen.

B&W Alert!!

Had to, just had to get a little artsy-fartsy. I know, it's an illness.

And we got closer to the end of the trail and closer to the houses along the Sound.

B&W Alert!!

Hahaha, I just noticed that my B&Ws are of fishermen.

Hmmmmm, what does that mean, Herr Doktor!?!

Lakeside Selfie Alert!!

We were still feeling good even though, in the back of my mind, I knew we'd have to climb back up that damn hill.

And we met a lot of dogs. Here's Marianne. She's a Jack Russell and a friendly Ol' Gal. More partial to Carol than to me.

A beautiful day. Looking north up the shoreline towards where Alki is.

B&W Alert!!

Hahaha, I decided I'd better break the string of B&W Fishermen so here's my landscape in B&W entry. Even in B&W it was a beautiful day.

There, does it look better in color?

Man, I love this digital stuff. Color, B&W, cropping, endless pictures!!! It is so great!!

I just wish I'd had all this 42 years ago before my first baby was born.

Look!! Just a bit to the left of center towards the bottom of the picture. Can you see the Seagull? It was like someone cued the gull and I got the picture. Sometimes things happen for the good. I didn't see him fly in but I did see him as I was lowering the camera flying out. I'd hoped I had gotten him.

A fisherman but this one is in color. It's kinda hard to tell, I know, but it is in color.

B&W Alert!!

But not this one!! Hahaha, back to my old ways.

Oh, c'mon!! This pictures screams to be in B&W!!

While we were walking we came upon this. These glass pieces were just setting in a small hollow of a tree trunk. Just these odd little things stuck together inside that hollow.

We left them alone. Who knows, might be some bad juju there.

Strange stuff but then we came across this spider web. It's like a funnel. I've never ever seen anything like this before.

I don't like spiders anyway and seeing this didn't help their cause one little bit.

Nope, at a bit.

But on to more pleasant things…like these Snow Berries. The first time I think I saw them was over in Coulon Park.

And the rich people. Hahaha, I know, I'm jealous. Nice place to have so close to the park and on the Sound.

And so we came to the end of the trail. And our climb up.

We took it in bites and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. A year ago I would have had some real problems getting up this sucker but this time I thought I did pretty good. Going up a different trail than the one we came down was good. This one had stretches of steps which made it faster going than the trail we came down which was all a sloped trail.

But we made it. No calls to 911 or tumbles down the side of the hill either.

Then it was the drive home. Lincoln Park is only about 5-6 miles from home but it's a world apart given the lousy, congested and twisted route you have to take to get there. Plus, it was near 1600 and I didn't, absolutely didn't want to drive the I-5 at that time. Heading south on the I-5 would just be an exercise in frustration.

So, I headed back and tried to stay on the surface streets. And I almost succeeded, too, except for one bad turn onto 99 North.

Coming into the Port of Seattle. We'll be crossing the Duwamish River in just a bit. So rather than stay on this road and feed into I-5 I decided to gamble and get on 99 North and then jump off first chance I got and go by surface street back home.

Haha, best laid plans and all that. I got on the 99 and there was NO off-ramp until we got downtown!!

Oh, great!!