It is January 11, and time for hike number 2 the loop trail at Discovery Park in Seattle!  Accompanying me on this hike is my wife, partner in crime, best friend, love of my life, and greatest cheerleader, Brook Dodd!  In the midst of being diagnosed and treated for aggressive kidney disease (Berger’s Disease), she mustered the time and energy to make frequent trips to Bellingham with me to visit with, and help care for my dad in his final days, as well as providing respite care for my mom, so that she could recharge, and help my cousin cope with his recent Kidney Cancer diagnosis.  After Dad passed, Brook used her amazing event planning skills to plan and host Dad’s wake.  These are debts I can never repay, and I love her to bits.  She will be a frequent guest on these hikes.

For this hike, we went to Discovery Park in Seattle.  This park is unique, as it is 534 acres of wilderness in the middle of the city of Seattle.  It is good to see an area designated as parkland in a place where real-estate prices are through the roof; it’s a little bit of refuge in a sea of crazy. The Discovery Park loop trail encircles the bluffs overlooking Puget Sound, and faces Bainbridge Island, and in clear weather, the Olympic Peninsula.   This park used to be known as Fort Lawton, an American infantry base that saw service from 1900 to 1972.  In 1972, the U.S. Army ceded the land back to the city of Seattle, and Discovery Park was born in 1973. 

In addition to the beautiful views from the bluffs, there is the old Fort Lawton housing, veteran’s cemetery, lighthouse, and Native American interpretive center, the Daybreak Cultural Center.  This first hike was limited in scope to the loop trail, due to the depleting nature of a recent treatment for Brook’s kidney disease, but we will return to explore these historical items in a future hike! Along the trail, there is plenty of interesting foliage along the way, including some cool looking fungi, and a giant old tree we named Bob.  It looks like Bob was struck by lightning at one point, as his massive trunk is split in two. 

One of Dad’s traditions at the end of every hike, is to go out to eat, so we did not want to dissappoint!  Lunch today is at Red Mill Burgers in Seattle.  Still the best bacon in town.  On to hike 3!

Things I learned from this hike:

• Don’t wash polyester hiking pants on “Hot.” They may become incredibly snug.

• It is best not to try “winging it” when hiking with a structured person.