Saturday, February 14, 2009

Destination Walk: Des Moines Creek

When I put on my walking shoes and head down the driveway on foot to get some exercise, it's a walk, but when I get in the car and drive somewhere in order to go for a walk, it's a destination walk. We are fortunate to have some great places not far from home. The Des Moines Creek Trail is only a ten minute drive from our house.
The trail is located just south of the runways of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, in the clear zone under the flight path. Some years ago when a new sewage treatment plant was built, a main pipeline was laid along a creek running through the woods. The cities of Des Moines and SeaTac worked with the sewer district to pave over the scar of the pipeline. Eventually the walkway was connected with a service road and now runs all the way to Puget Sound at Des Moines Creek Park. A dry, partly sunny Saturday gets Seattlites outside to enjoy their surroundings.
The trail is easy and partly paved. The babbling brook supplies walking music. Nature supplies interesting details.
Low flying aircraft supply the drama. The treatment plant supplied the right of way for the trail
A new bridge for the roadway above provides trail and stream access. The trail and creek meet the salt water at Des Moines Creek Park
The tide was out and families were enjoying the beach. These seagulls were getting an easy meal.
We walked out on the fishing pier to see what we could see.
The Des Moines marina was fairly quiet, but the sailor of this cute little boat had been out to enjoy the day.
Then it was time to retrace our steps to get back to the car. The slight, steadily uphill return gave us a good workout. Round trip is about five miles.
Fresh air, nature, exercise, companionship - a great outing.

13 comments:

  1. that's a good walk and looks interesting.

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  2. Loved the virtual walk with you. I enjoy spotting birdnests when the leaves don't hide them.
    Mother Nature is surely entertaining in so many ways. Not everyone sees/enjoys it, but I do.
    Thanks for sharing. I welcome the trips.

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  3. I am going to borrow your term..destination walk..Love it. Nice that you have the weather to support this in winter....

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  4. Thanks for taking us on the walk with you. That was a lot of fun and very interesting.

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  5. I enjoyed that walk with its sights, sounds and drama. You made good company Linda! - Dave

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  6. Nice Shots Linda, and makes me want to go hiking. I haven't been there, but looks like it has it all...

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  7. you take the best walks :)

    that airplane is very low, you got a great shot of it

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  8. This was fascinating. Thank you for taking us along on your destination walk.

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  9. And a destination walk with camera in hand is joyful, indeed. Thanks for taking us along.

    I'm all for meandering. I like that you take the time on your walks to see your surroundings. I used to walk with a group that was in such a hurry, (had to keep the heart rate up and all that) no one really enjoyed the small beauties along the way. That's the way my husband likes to hike. Hustle and get to the destination point. He doesn't stop to enjoy an orange, see the detail of the flowers, hear the sounds of animals scurrying off as we draw near... nothing.... it's just a matter of getting there and turing around to get back again. Wha??

    He's far more goal oriented than I am. And that's not really a bad thing... it just doesn't work for me when I'm on a nature hike.

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  10. Linda, I loved going on your walk. And I have to agree with Mom/Caryn that you only go down the path of life once so you need to look, explore, take photos, use all five senses to enjoy the walking moment. Want to get the cardiovascular up, well stay home and get on the treadmill in the closet. Have a great Tuesday!

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  11. What a delightful walk. Excellent pictures and information. I don't get down south too much but maybe I should.

    Thanks for visiting my blog . I am having server problems and cannot always return a comment. MB

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  12. What a nice looking walk! I will have to check it out someday...

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  13. Lovely pictures. I haven't been able to blog for awhile, but happy to be back to check things out.

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