A few posts ago, I wrote about finding a park I had been looking for “right across the street” from a place I had been at least a dozen times. I had not been aware enough of my surroundings — or open to doing even a bit of exploration — to find it.
Well, yesterday, I had a similar experience. There is a route that my wife and I often take to get to Lake Washington in Southeast Seattle. At one point less than 1/2 mile from our house, the route goes down a hill through a pretty forested area. The main road bends steeply left, and then winds alongside the lake. But, there is another road — the one less travelled — that bends off to the right.
I had often wondered about that road, but it took over two years for me to decide to even drive down it. I discovered that it led through a beautiful hidden gem of a park called Frink Park. And, yesterday, one year later, I finally actually walked down that road and found out even more of what I had been missing.
Often, when we walk someplace, we can find and explore little side paths that we zoom in a car or even in a bicycle. My guess is it’s the combination of just going slower and being in a mind set to notice these sorts of things.
Yesterday, when I turned to the right around that bend, I parked beside a small bridge. I had half way noticed the bridge before. But, when I got out of the car and looked over the edge of the bridge, I realized that there was a stream still running beneath the bridge — on September 2. I found this a bit surprising, since we have had almost no rain for some time. It was clear this would be a quite strong stream come spring.
I then drove a bit further, and walked back up the hill — ending at the same bridge. And, not surprising, it was only then that I was able to actually explore that area. I found out that there was a tiny little trail that went along the stream, and crossed the stream beside a little waterfall. Absolutely magical little place. Now that I know where it is, I might even walk there sometime to enjoy it.
One of the funny things about this experience is the specific reason I thought to write this post. As I mentioned, I had parked beside the bridge. However, I hadn’t noticed the trail until I walked through the same area.
The reason was simple. In addition to not being very observant, my car was parked directly in front of — and blocking – the trailhead

Picture of me driving past the bridge at Frink Park 
From the Friends of Frink website
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