Today, Diane Howell Evans and I are focusing our attention on Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington. Our walk today will be an 11k (6.8 miles) that hits most of the high points (literally and figuratively) in Point Defiance Park.
Once again, our weather is picture-perfect. Walking in the Pacific Northwest at this time of year can't be beaten. Diane picked me up at the RV park for the short drive to Tacoma over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Our starting point was the marina in the park.
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Point Defiance Marina.
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With instructions in hand, we walked out the door and our very first walk instruction told us to turn left and go up the stairs, then over the bridge. Umm, no can do. There was a chain-link fence with a sign at the bottom of the stairs stating that the bridge was closed. Now what?
We read the following instruction that told us to turn left at the next trail intersection. Our next destination was the Pagoda. The road we came in on went back up the hill and there was a bridge across the road that would get us where we needed to be. Just to be sure, we asked a gentleman driving a maintenance vehicle if the overpass would take us to the Pagoda. He indicated it would.
When we made our way there via the road, we saw the sign blocking the same trail from this side. I asked the guy why the bridge was closed. He said it was unstable and dangerous to cross. It looks like the instructions will need to be rewritten to give a different start to this walk.
Before we entered the Japanese Garden, we saw this ten-inch shell from the U.S.S. Maine. |
Ten-inch shell from the U.S.S. Maine.
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| Plaque regarding the Pagoda. |
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The Pagoda
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The maples are changing
color in mid-August! |
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| Photo of the streetcar line. |
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History of the Pagoda.
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Another view of the Pagoda.
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Relaxed now from our zen Japanese Garden moments, we meandered to the concrete footbridge. From the bridge, we had unimpeded views of Puget Sound, the marina, the ferry, and Dune Peninsula. What I thought was fun were the slides placed next to the stairs leading down to the marina. You could take a quick way down!
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A view of Puget Sound and
the Evergreen State Ferry. |
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Notice the blue slides
next to each set of stairs!
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Blue slide in the foreground,
footbridge in the middle of the photo.
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A paved, sloping ramp took us down to the Dune Peninsula. We circumnavigated the peninsula, checking out art and artifacts as we went.
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A huge bucket from the
old Asarco smelter.
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Beautiful landscaping.
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Up on one of the hills were some interesting-looking creatures. I thought maybe they were octopi. However, since this is Dune Peninsula we discovered these sculptures are Arrakis Sandworms from Frank Hebert's Dune.
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| Arrakis sandworm. |
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"Little Makers" sculpture
by Nichole Rathburn.
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The next three photos are of the "Alluvion" artwork by Adam Kuby. He took pipes left over from the Asarco smelter and cut them up to show the processes of accretion, layering, erosion, disintegration, oxidizing, and rusting that have formed (and transformed) this place.
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Cut-up pipes form part
of this art installation.
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Diane taking a photo of the
info plaque about the art.
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Smaller pieces of the pipes
(rusting and disintegrating).
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I am inside a huge smelter bucket.
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The marina was very photogenic this morning. I loved the reflections in the water.
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| The marina and yacht club. |
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A good view of the footbridge.
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Another view of the marina.
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We walked back up the ramp we had come down. As we started up, we ran into Nancy and Buffy Wittenburg, and Sheila Morrison along with two other local walkers. All of us had our face masks on. A park worker stopped by to say she appreciated that we all had our masks on. That was a very nice acknowledgment.
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The local club walkers:
Buffy, Nancy, Sheila, and Diane.
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Point Defiance Park is one of the places in the world where the giant Sequoia trees grow. I think the trees below are contenders.
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| People using the slides! |
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The specialty gardens at
Point Defiance Park.
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A pub and bistro across from
the entrance to the park.
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At the roundabout, we had trouble figuring out what the directions meant. Were we supposed to turn right or left at the roundabout? There were four paths we could go by, but in the long run, there was still time to change the road we were on. At just that moment when Diane was off trying to find the street we needed, the local club came to the rescue. They pointed us in the right direction and we followed them.
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Going up a long hill.
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The Point Defiance Volksmarch is quite hilly in parts as you can see above. Be careful on this road in the park. The speed limit is supposed to be 20-25 mph, but the cars coming down these hills did not follow the speed limit!
We passed SAMI (Science and Math Institute) for Tacoma Public Schools and Fort Nisqually Living History Museum (which was not open yet today).
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The Tacoma Narrows Bridges.
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Don't forget to look up
(amazing trees here).
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Tacoma Narrows.
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Gig Harbor viewpoint with the Olympic
Mountains in the background.
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A view of Puget Sound.
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Next, we came to the Mountaineer
Tree - a Douglas fir.
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Fascinating!
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Mountaineer Tree.
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At our next viewpoint, we rounded the trees in the parking lot, and voila!
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A bald eagle was teaching its
eaglet to fly or hunt. |
I love nature moments like that! Our next viewpoint was of Vashon Island. It's a beautiful day for sailing!
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View toward Vashon Island.
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Another beautiful forest trail we did not
take. We stayed on the main loop road.
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Walking through the parking lot
of Owens Beach. |
We made our way to Owens Beach Park and continued along the waterfront to the marina. Embedded in the cement walkway were poems and sayings. We don't know who wrote them. It seemed like they were written by kids or teens.
We enjoyed being next to the clear waters of Puget Sound. The Mt. Rainier view was an added bonus.
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