Group Walk: First of the Year

Our first group stairway walk of the year took place today, in the Ravenna neighborhood. It was announced jointly on this website and on the Bellevue & Seattle Dragon Boating and Hiking Meetup. About 30 people joined us for this walk; we look forward to meeting more Seattle stairs explorers this year (see our Events page to find out about the big citywide Stairway Walks Day, February 9th).

Folks were full of questions and curiosity, and Ravenna Ravine was in fine winter form: bare maples made for lots of visibility and Ravenna Creek was running full. Glorious!

Descending into the ravine

For more pictures from today's walk see the slideshow below.

Wintertime is the Right Time

Following the theme of the last post, these pictures show a section of the "Deadhorse Canyon and Rainier Beach" route that winds up and down the canyon itself.  The main attraction of this portion of the stairway walk is a verdant, steep ravine that is creased by year-round Taylor Creek. In summer the canyon is deeply shaded by tall maples, and the understory plants are bursting with almost limitless variations of green. In winter when many trees drop their leaves, you get a very different experience. Sightlines across the canyon are longer, and you see much more of the creek, which is flowing at its seasonal height. There are 127 scattered timber steps inside the canyon, but most of the stairs action takes place after you climb up out of the canyon into residential Rainier Beach.

In winter the trail opens to reveal more of the sky and the ravine itself

For more scenes from our recent walk, check out the slideshow below. These were taken on our old iPhone, but hopefully they suggest the beauty we encountered! Another beautiful nearby attraction worth visiting year-round is Kubota Garden, just about a mile away.