A Walk in The City

Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, Bellevue WA


From the overlook

The nice thing about Washington state is that there are always interesting places to visit.  Typically within  urban areas are pockets of preserved areas to keep nature somewhat wild that we can visit and study.  I only recall a few of these places when I was kid, I'm sure I never thought much of these areas since I could walk out my front door and play in a nearby swamp, plug my nose to the skunk cabbage, and attempt to catch frogs anytime I wanted--at least until the housing developments were built around the swampy land.  I knew if I came home with mud past my knees I would be in trouble... there were many times I recall my cousin and I trying to wipe the mud off of our jeans on the grass when we got back home, in an attempt that maybe my mom would not notice.  She always noticed, and would get upset.

Skunk cabbage is VERY large.  And stinky.


I love trees, the shapes can be very interesting.  They have their own story to tell.

So in a way it is kind of funny to me that now we drive to places to go walk around swampy areas to be able to touch nature.  My pictures aren't great, the lighting was not very good and with the troop of boys on this walk I couldn't stop and take my time like I would have wanted.  Nonetheless, it was a good walk and we are fortunate to have these pockets locally available.

A small tributary that leads into Lake Washington

You'd have to be there to get a sense of the elevation change, but before the Ship Canal was made, the area we walked was totally under water (Lake Washington).  The water level was dropped by 9 feet, and the river that did lead to the Duwamish River dried up.  This change happened almost 100 years ago, and it's strange now to think of how different the landscape looked back then.


I wonder how many tries it took to get that stick up there?


Unfortunately we did not see any Flickers or woodpeckers to see if maybe this was their home--or perhaps it was home to a different critter.  No telling!  The only "animals" we saw on this walk were three snakes.  And a bunch of gnats.



Salmon Berries!  Yum!  If I wasn't rushed, I could have actually focused on the flower, but that's the way it goes with a gaggle of kids.

Overall, it was a nice walk.  Elevation was steep in some places, and it did make me a little anxious (I don't like steep hikes).  This center has quite a few kids' programs and can be rented out for events.

Thinking about it... the saddest part about urban sprawl is that kids today will never fully know the joy of being able to just walk outside to the creek by their houses and get totally muddy.  Even at this location, I don't know if kids can actually walk in the muddy areas since most places I've been say to stay on trails.  There is a certain joy in walking through waist-high muddy water... (maybe the keeper of laundry doesn't feel that joy however).