2014-02-03 47 -122

Location

Magnuson Park, south of the Kite Hill and north of the Boat Launch. Fairly close to the Swimming Beach.

Participants

Plans

Stop by on the way to work for Seattle's 180th expedition and likely 126th success.

This is such a cool spot I'll have to go get it as well... will aim for 5pm or a little before. (Didn't go for yesterday's because I was sleeping off a stubborn bug...) -- OtherJack (talk) 15:56, 3 February 2014 (EST)

Go for it! I didn't leave a marker of any kind, so don't look for it. --Thomcat (talk) 19:34, 3 February 2014 (EST)

Expedition

Thomcat

I commute to work between Ballard and Bothell, and usually take Lake City Way then state highway 522. Magnuson park is not strictly on-the-way, but it's not far off - and this evening I will have other commitments.

Magnuson Park was originally shared by two Native American tribes. More recently, it was a park named Carkeek (the same as near my house) until bought up by the city to create a Naval Air Station after World War I. This facility was deactivated in 1970 and most of it became Magnuson Park. Many of the buildings used for that are still there, including large hangars that are now used as indoor sports fields. Also there are some pretty cool and very accessible wetlands - recommended for a visit if you are in the graticule.

The park neighborhood was easy to reach, with a little south-bound traffic on the drive - people headed to work. Entered the park from the north entrance and drove past a baseball field I have worked often and will probably be umping high school baseball at in the next few months. Good day for a game actually, if a little cold.

Reached the Cross Park Trail and parked - the parking doesn't match the google aerial photo used on Peeron - this area now has angled spots on one side of the road only. Much safer, in general. Walked across the lawn to reach the spot, snapping a few photos on the way.

Geohash dance gets me to a measurement of less than a meter to the spot - well within the 2-3 meter error rate of the device. Seems like Android has me a few meters south of the spot as pictured on google, but one or both may be off. Have discussed this with others and their full GPS devices - it seems like there may be a way to reset Android measurements for accuracy. Will research that soon.

Off to work, exiting via the south entrance and heading north again - no Tron for this trip.

OtherJack

As soon as the last obligation at work was over at 4:25pm, I ran for (and just made) the bus up to Sand Point... I wanted to be sure to get this one while it was still light out on this beautiful sunny crisp afternoon. Lots of cool old stuff in Magnuson Park on the walk over from the 65th St bus stop, and the way was quite simple. Android GPS refused to update at first (I hadn't had time to grab the real GPS leaving home this morning), but turning the phone off and on did the trick and then it was fine. Once along the lakeshore, the early-dusk light was extraordinary as the sun was going down over View Ridge behind me. I hadn't been to this park in years, so was nice to have an excuse to return.

The point was one of the easiest I've ever been to - in the middle of a big mowed lawn between two straight promenades of the park by the lakeshore. Hashdance didn't take too long, but it was starting to get darker, and nippy (but not quite Frozen according to the local weather stations.) I was glad to get my hands back in my coat sleeves and press on to the #30 bus stop in the NOAA complex, which looked straightforward to reach.

The first bit of this walk was very interesting as it took me past an installation of "fin art", a quonset hut that had been beautifully repurposed into modern-design public bathrooms (or perhaps a new bathroom building meant to evoke a quonset hut??), and one of the wetland projects Thom mentioned. However, the trail turned out to be blocked by a huge off-leash dog area and then a barbed wire fence... there was no way to get to NOAA. I ended up having to walk all the way around and back to 74th and Sand Point, and as a result passed by about four fields of kids practicing soccer and football. Noticed a couple girls doing football drills with the dozen or so boys (and at least one of the soccer practices was also co-ed), which surprised me... not having kids makes you unaware of society's progress sometimes, I guess! Power to them...