2024-05-09 47 -122

Location

Arroyo Beach Place, downhill from the Arbor Heights neighborhood of West Seattle.

Participants

coyotebush

Plans

Is it directly on the road? Satellite imagery is inconclusive due to tree cover; Google's map thinks so, but Street View shows the marker up a steep hillside into parks department land.

Bike? Last Sunday I passed about a mile away on the Emerald City Ride, so I know it's both far and hilly.

Transit? A one-way loop through Arbor Heights is served by route 22 every... uh... 70ish minutes, as well as by a few commute-oriented express trips of route 21. Since it's only a 15 minute walk to the point, 70 minutes seems like a long time to spend. Route 22 connects to the Westwood Village shopping mall, a significant bus hub also served by the H Line, the newest RapidRide route. So a three-seat ride each way, or a couple miles extra walking to Westwood Village or Fauntleroy.

Lunch to break up the trip? Looks like Westwood Village mostly has chain fast food.

Expedition

Sunny day, heading for a hot weekend. Had no plans until evening, but while researching the above info in the morning I wasn't confident I wanted to make the trip. After some lunch I checked directions again, noticed that leaving soon would line up well with the 22 schedule, and decided to head out.

Light rail to downtown, ending up able to catch an earlier H Line trip than expected. That one actually showed up 6 minutes late, simultaneously with buses on route 125 and route 21, all displaying Westwood Village.

On board an H Line bus, fastest among 3 simultaneous departures to Westwood Village, to connect with infrequent route 22. -- Coyotebush (talk) @47.6047,-122.3333 13:41, 9 May 2024 (PDT)

Roads familiar from the bike ride, then a twelve minute wait to transfer to the 22, where I was soon the only passenger. Realized I should get off at the top of the road to Arroyo Beach, rather than a few stops later as erroneously suggested, and was greeted with the best view yet of the sound.

I started down the hill and was soon glad I hadn't brought a bike with which I'd have to climb up again. The views, including adjacent cliffs and Vashon Island ferries, were better than anticipated. A few cars and another friendly walker passed me.

Right turn onto Arroyo Beach Place. Fancier homes down here than at the top. A few people out: landscaping, power washing, working in garage. Increasingly private-looking towards the end.

From the road, my phone said the point was at least 15 feet east - up the hillside, fortunately not directly across from any of the homes. I found a reasonable spot to scramble up and gain a few horizontal feet - didn't change typical readings, but did briefly get a 5-foot reading. I'm confident I could have reached any of the relative locations indicated, but didn't care to dance around in the ferns.

Could have explored the other end of the road (which in retrospect appears to have shore access) but was nervous about missing the next bus so ascended again. Back at the top, I still had 25 minutes to spare, so with a bus stop every block I decided to walk along the bus route until it caught up with me. Home by the same route, with more passengers than before as peak commute traffic had clearly started. Four hours in total.

Tracklog

Walk, bus to hash to bus:

Photos

Route 22 @47.5211,-122.3651
Goodbye bus @47.5065,-122.3816
Roadside overlook @47.5038,-122.3823
Park map not actually at "you are here" @47.5042,-122.3853
Heading north @47.5030,-122.3859
End of pavement @47.5044,-122.3878
Hillside @47.5056,-122.3889
Grin up the hill @47.5056,-122.3888
Best GPS screenshot
Panorama from the road
Google Maps thinks you can teleport through this to a bus stop @47.5026,-122.3821
Bus stops map