September 30, 2016 - Leavenworth, WA (YRE)

You could wear lederhosen or a dirndl to do a volkswalk in Leavenworth, and you would not look ridiculous. Every single building in Leavenworth looks like it was transported here directly from Bavaria. This place is Over-The-Top Cute.

We started our walk at the Icicle Inn after enjoying our first look at Leavenworth as we drove through town to the start point.

We passed several Alpine-themed hotels with gorgeous flower boxes and several buildings with murals that kept to the theme.

Pizza delivery, German-style.

Upon reaching Front Street, we entered the really touristy part of Leavenworth. We strolled through several blocks of Bavarian shops and restaurants, stopping to buy some delicious imported mustard. We heard polka music and thought it was being piped in until we arrived at the bandstand. There was yodeling, too.

A Maypole?

When we reached the Festhalle the street was blocked off and they were setting up for Oktoberfest (of course).

We bypassed this area and followed some back streets to a trail that followed the Wenatchee River upstream toward Riverfront Park. This was quite a change of pace, but not unwelcome. We followed the trail (which is a XC ski trail in winter, past a playground and over a bridge, where we admired the crystal-clear water and the steelhead hanging out in a shady part of the river. The trail continued to Blackbird Island, a peaceful spot just a stone's throw from all that Bavariana.

About this time we remembered passing the Munchen Haus and we were feeling a bit hungry, so we interrupted our walk to have some lunch. The Munchen Haus has a limited menu but a well-deserved reputation. They serve several different types of sausages, several mustards, sauerkraut, pretzels, and German potato salad. And several types of beer plus one type of cider. Real health food, ja? It was quite tasty, and the guys especially enjoyed our lunch. It was hot so I gulped down my cider and I got pretty buzzed. I made an executive decision that we were doing the 5km walk, and we just had to get back to our car to complete it.

Munchen Haus

On the way back we passed a boutique that lured me in and I bought a necklace. This is so unlike me. I was still pretty buzzed. I have never felt a buzz from cider before. I guess I never had German cider.

Walk Route (5km): B+

Walk Instructions: B

The map isn't the best. Grab one of the free tourist maps that are everywhere, and you will always know where you are.

Just before you get to Leavenworth you will come to a nice fruit stand/quilt shop. We had to stop. Oh, the apples!

September 29, 2016 - Ellensburg River and City Parks (YRE 11151)

Irene Rinehart Park lies next to the Yakima River. We started out on a pretty trail among the trees.

We could see people fly-fishing in the river. We passed a small waterfall and enjoyed the sound of the rushing water. 

We saw about a dozen signposts that had been recently installed. They promised that "Circle the City" would be coming soon. The sooner the better. This trail really needs something to make it more interesting.

Although the vegetation was quite dry, we did see a lot of hardwood trees, and they provided some welcome shade on the first segment of the walk. We saw an abundance of white berries. I believe they are snow berries. They are probably not edible, and they don't look very appetizing, anyway.

Judging by the prodigious number of rose hips, this would be a wonderful walk when the wild roses are in bloom.

Soon the river got closer to I-90 and the park became a narrow strip of land between the two. The sound of rushing traffic replaced the sound of rushing water.

There is a flood control project in this area, and we had to walk over a "watergate."

The water looks so harmless today, but there has been flooding here within the past couple of years.

When we reached Carey Lakes our trail went between the lake and the river and we got farther away from I-90 for a while. 

At Carey Lakes:

We had our first problem with the instructions at this point. I misunderstood what the "green metal gate" was and basically tried to follow step 9 too soon. We missed a little bit of the trail as a result, but I don't think we missed anything very interesting.

At the far end of the lake we found a "Frolf" course.

As we came around the lake we reached a point where the path took us under I-90. At this point we found a solar array. (This was the turnaround point for the 5km walk. We opted for the 10km walk and kept going.)

We walked along a dike, part of the Reecer Creek Flood Plain Restoration Project.

Eventually we reached the Rotary Park Sports Complex - soccer fields, baseball fields, and some basketball courts. Everything was clean and well-maintained, even the restrooms.

For recycling:

We passed through West Ellensburg Park, a city park. It was adjacent to Rotary Park. From there we walked for about 6 blocks through a run down neighborhood where we provided entertainment for various dogs who considered us to be intruding on their territory. Then we returned to Rotary Park and continued back to the path under I-90.

As we emerged on the other side we ran into some more problems with the directions. We didn't understand step # 26 and thought it must have had a typo in it, so we went LEFT instead of RIGHT. It worked out ok, because you really can't get very lost here. We returned to our car using an alternate trail along the river, in accordance with the directions.

If you decide to do this walk, be sure to bring some water with you. I drank almost all of my water during the walk, as it was a warm day and abut 3/4 of the walk is out in the open.

Walk Route: C

Walk Instructions: D

Got lost twice. In addition, I think step 16 is incorrect.

September 28, 2016 - Ellensburg City (YRE-0320)

It always helps to have nice weather. We had really nice weather today in Ellensburg, in central Washington.

Central Washington is in the high desert. The landscape is so different from most places I have been. I really enjoyed the hills surrounding the town.

We started the walk at a Starbucks - and I do recommend the salted caramel mocha coffee. We soon found ourselves in a pleasant residential area. The houses were a nice mixture of bungalows, Craftsman-style homes, and mid-century houses. The people we met on the sidewalks of Ellensburg were friendly. They invariably said "Hi!". 

Not all of the houses were bungalows

The American Legion building

Many of the properties were nicely landscaped. We saw some desert landscaping, but we also saw quite a few rose gardens. I loved the variety of colorful mature trees present in most neighborhoods.

Our walk took us to a viewpoint overlooking the rodeo grounds, which are on the National Register of Historic Places. Apparently the Ellensburg Rodeo is one of America's top ten professional rodeos. This is a Big Deal here.

A mural seen downtown:

A mural encountered downtown

We continued through charming neighborhoods to the historic downtown area. 

Yay! A Little Free Library!

Hmmmmm.

The CBD was well-maintained. I enjoyed seeing the flower boxes, decorative trash containers, cute bicycle racks, and other little details that went into making our visit to downtown Ellensburg so enjoyable.

We stopped at The Soup Bowl for an excellent lunch. There are many appetizing possibilities for lunch downtown, so try to time your walk so that you hit downtown around lunchtime.

Me and the Ellensburg Bull:

Art Deco bank, now a gallery:

We completed our tour of downtown with a walk past City Hall and then turned up toward the campus of Central Washington University. The campus is dominated by Barge Hall, the oldest and most iconic building on campus. The signature red brick with white stone trim is reflected in most of the other university buildings, giving the campus a cohesive look.

Before completing our campus tour we looped through a stately residential neighborhood to the west, admiring the 100-year-old trees that lined the street, and hoping chestnuts and acorns did not start dropping on us.

Back on campus we walked past a gorgeous new state-of-the-art science building before reaching the arboretum, where we followed a path along a canal until we reached a quad with outdoor sculptures.

Who doesn't love weeping willows?

In front of the library we saw a photo shoot involving an older couple wearing CWU t-shirts. Who were they? Big donors? The oldest alumni? Ardent Wildcats fans?

It was interesting to find a peaceful Japanese Garden right in the middle of campus. Every campus should have a retreat like this.

We were very impressed with the careful planning that went into this route. We were also impressed by the clear, accurate instructions and the well-organized log book, with excellent information about the walk and the applicable special programs. This walk was a delight!

Walk Route: B+

Walk Instructions: A

August 20, 2016 - Blueberry Festival

Oops.  It's been a while since I have posted. I have been traveling a lot in places where they don't have volkswalks. But I'm inspired by today's great walk.

Our club decided to do a group walk or guided walk on our Girdwood YRE. We picked today because the Blueberry Festival is taking place. We used to have event walks during the Blueberry Festival, but it got to be too much work to organize that, so we are accomplishing almost the same thing by walking the YRE.

We brought Merle with us. She is visiting here from Pennsylvania and wanted to get out of town today. This was her first experience with volkswalking, and I think she had a good time.

On the way down to Girdwood we saw a pod of Beluga whales in Turnagain Arm. It is so much fun to see them, but it's hard to take pictures from a car going 60 miles an hour.

We arrived in Girdwood after a 45-minute drive and headed for the Alyeska Resort, our start point. About 20 people showed up to walk. Upon starting we divided up into two groups - one to walk the 10k, and one to walk the 5k.

The 5k walk follows a little woodsy trail along a creek, eventually arriving at a gravel airstrip. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we had stunning views of mountains and glaciers.

We continued through a subdivision where we admired some homes with gorgeous flower gardens and lots of charming cozy-looking cabins.

Eventually we reached the main road and crossed over to the Jade Shop.

Approaching the Jade Shop

A  trail behind the Jade Shop took us over a silty, glacial creek, and there were more views of glaciers.



We soon arrived at the Alyeska Bake Shop where we were greeted by a bounty of flower pots, boxes, and hanging baskets.

Part of the 5k contingent

Finally, we followed the bike path back up the road toward the Alyeska Resort. We started to pass blueberry bushes, but there were very few blueberries to be found.

As the bike path led us through a tunnel to another trail near the back of the resort we began to see little groups of blueberry pickers. There were a few berries right by the side of the trail that no one had found yet and we ate them!

Very soon after that we arrived at the resort. The walk was now over but it was time to explore all the booths that had been set up for the Blueberry Festival.

I got a quesadilla at one of the booths. (I am writing about this to remind myself not to go to that booth next year. The quesadilla was not that good. While I was waiting for it, I watched a customer walk up to the counter, reach over and stick her hand into a bowl of shredded cheese, and grab a handful to add to the plate of food she had just purchased. This was the cheese the cooks were adding to people's food. She was not supposed to take any, and she was definitely not supposed to stick her hand into the bowl of cheese. I was horrified because I could see what she was going to do and I yelled "No, no, no" but she did it anyway. I told the people working there and they said customers are not supposed to touch the food and I said yes, but they are doing it, what are you going to do about it? I suspect they have not changed the way they operate.)

By the time we left the Blueberry Festival, there was a huge traffic jam trying to get into the parking lot. There was a line of cars backed up all the way from the Resort to the "T" and from the "T" all the way down to Crow Creek Road. Make sure you go EARLY if you go next year.

Route: B+ if you do this YRE on a gorgeous day during the Blueberry Festival