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Circumambulating Seattle 4: West Seattle to Downtown

July 3, 2014

“But most of these far walks have been taken just for the joy of walking in the free air.”
— John Finley, “Traveling Afoot,” from The Joys of Walking, ed. Edwin Valentine

“Increasingly, walking itself became a source of happiness, something to be enjoyed in its own right, bringing an intensity of experience and a sensual awareness of surroundings that grew more addictive by the miles.”
— Nick Hunt, Walking the Woods and the Water

View of downtown Seattle skyline from Alki

At this point in my multi-day project of encircling the periphery of Seattle, I no longer questioned why I was walking these segments. I simply enjoyed the journey. I was especially looking forward to this day’s walk because I knew I would have Puget Sound in sight almost the entire day. I was reminded of how beautiful Seattle’s location is, with distant mountains to the west (the Olympics) and to the east (the Cascades) and the gentle waves of Puget Sound lapping its shores.

I started my walk from the Barton Street Pea Patch at the intersection of Barton Street SW and 35th Avenue SW.

Sunflower

Barton Street community garden

I followed Barton Street west and downhill to the sound. The Fauntleroy ferry was disgorging cars and passengers. It would have been a lovely day for a ferry ride to Vashon Island, but I stuck with my plan to walk.

Ferry to Vashon Island

Disembarking

I followed Fauntleroy Avenue SW to Lincoln Park, a heavily wooded space with playground, picnic tables, and below the bluff, a beach with paved walking and biking path. Families, joggers, and dog-watchers enjoyed the beach.

Picnic table under the trees, Lincoln Park

Beach at Lincoln Park on Puget Sound

Exercising with beach rocks

The Seattle grunge look — starting early

Seattle is a very literary city.

From Lincoln Park I headed north on Beach Drive where I was separated from the beach by a row of waterfront residences. As I approached Alki Beach, I discovered a set of 27 constellations embedded the sidewalk, West Seattle’s own “Avenue of the Stars.”

Beach Drive turned into Alki Avenue. The point here was the original landing spot of the Denny Party, Seattle’s first white settlers, in 1851. Later they relocated across the Sound to establish Seattle on the shores of Elliott Bay. Today the beach is one of the city’s favorite recreation spots, especially on summer days.

Blue bottle house

Alki Beach

Alki has its own miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty, which commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Boy Scouts.

Picnic on the beach

Flowered house on Alki Avenue

Alki Avenue turned into Harbor Avenue SW and now the views over the water took in the Seattle skyline.

Recreation and industry on Elliott Bay near downtown Seattle

The next stretch of my walk took me away from the relaxing beachfront and back into the city’s industrial area. Pedestrians are prohibited on the West Seattle Bridge, but I had access to a nice bike trail across Harbor Island on an older, lower bridge. I passed over the Duwamish River, and Mount Rainier gleamed hugely and whitely on the horizon.

Bike path along the lower bridge

Under the West Seattle Bridge

Duwamish River with Mount Rainier

Duwamish River looking toward downtown Seattle

My final trek was along East Marginal Way South past the shipping docks. The Starbucks headquarters punctuated the skyline in the SODO (south of Downtown) neighborhood. I passed an historical marker near 2225 E marginal Way S on the spot of the world’s very first gasoline service station (1907). Who knew that Seattle played a role in this part of our country’s driving history!