Another beautiful autumn day found us walking from Matthews Beach Park into Inverness and back to the park again.

We started out walking southwest along the Burke Gilman Trail. Shortly after crossing over Sand Point Way, there is an exit from the west side of the trail onto NE 93rd and NE 94th Streets.  We walked west on 93rd to 45th Avenue NE then walked south on 45th, crossing a ravine. Along the way, we spotted an Open House (something we haven't seen often during covid), a Little Free Library which contained an assortment of paperbacks, a Bible and some Bible related publications.


92nd Street is a dead end but walking down it, we reached 46th Avenue where we spotted an entrance onto the Burke Gilman Trail.

Back on 45th, we walked to Paisley Drive NE, in and out of Paisley Place, back along Paisley Drive to Inverness Drive which we took down to Sand Point Way. This area has not changed much in the last 12 years. It is still well kept with underground utilities and sidewalks and curbs in most places. It still has great views. Homes in the older section on the top of the hill are mostly midcentury modern while those lower down the hill in the newer section are mostly traditional with a more colonial look.

Walking north on Sand Point Way, we stopped to pick a few blackberries and then entered Matthews Beach Park from the south. A bench is located by a path to a pond where we can sometimes see turtles.


Just beyond the bench, we crossed Thornton Creek ...



... via a recently updated footbridge.


This led us to the south beach where we spotted a few kayaks and a sailboat regatta.


Proceeding to the north beach, we climbed a lifeguard chair which was not used at all this past summer due to a shortage of lifeguards. Here we also spotted a large number of Canada Geese. There were weeks this past summer when even waders could not go in the water here due to fecal contamination from the geese.


Climbing down from the lifeguard chair, we walked to the renovated playground and then back up the Burke Gilman Trail.



Our approximately 2.5 mile walk rewarded us with sun, beautiful views, lake breezes and a few blackberries.

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