My plan was to park at Harborview Park, but I forgot one of the basic facts of life about the parks here. If a park has a parking lot that's locked up at night, it will not be open right when the park hours begin. It's just not realistic to expect, since it's probably just one or two workers driving around doing it.
I could have parked on the side of the street right there, but decided to pull onto the one that has the trail at the end. Figuring it'd be nicer to end coming down that street instead of climbing it immediately, I set off walking the same way I came. The parking lot was still closed as I passed the park, but I stopped for a photo from across the street.
My path took me toward the huge business parks but not entirely in them. It pleases me greatly that giant buildings around there are surrounded by the woods. It's nice.
I turned around to get a look back toward where I parked. Absolutely stunning.
I figured since the path headed down along a couple of creeks that there wouldn't be much more climbing, but I was incorrect. From the street, there are several sets of death stairs on the path. They're the ones made from railroad ties, too. Very scary to walk down, so I was glad to be walking up. I think any future routes that follow this trail with only go North, as I don't want to walk down them.
I couldn't even get a photo of the third set of stairs, as they were even more overgrown than the second one. Right at the top of the first set, a snake slithered across the path a few feet in front of me! First time I've seen one since I got here.
The apartment complex that the path wraps partially around is interesting. Most apartment playgrounds I've seen are fenced in, and in an area kids can't easily wander out of. The one I saw today opens right up onto the trail. Some of the apartments in the back are even right next to the trail, and there was one I could see right into. It was vacant, and it's probably a hard sell.
The rest of the path after that main climb around the apartments was pretty cool. A little steep in some areas, but nothing overly terrifying. Unless you go the other way and have to go down the stairs.
The neighborhood I walked down through at the end was also very lovely. Houses on both sides back up to the woods, the street is wide enough to have parking on either side, and it's nice and quiet. Nice place to visit even if I wouldn't want to live there.
I tried out my new running tights from Old Navy on this walk. They're very nice. I think I'll order three more pairs today while they're still on sale. Why three pair? That's enough to go over the $50 minimum for free shipping. No need to pay an extra $7 to ship when I can just stock up instead. Oooh, and I found a coupon code online, so that makes $22 off the whole order.
Oh and today's the first walk that I can remember in years with no back pain during or after. Awesome.