Biking the Green River Trail

This summer I got a bike. I haven't had a bike since I was in Junior High/High School. The bike is a basic hybrid, built for comfort, but with plenty of gears to get me up and down the Seattle topography. Seattle is a great place to learn about bikes. Plenty of bike shops and folks who live to bike. I'm not sure I will ever be one of those folks (I'm a pedestrian/hiker to the core) but I'm really enjoying the bike. Check out this metal sculpture of three cyclists. I look just like this when I ride.

We've been riding on the Green River Trail lately. It's 19 miles of paved trail with little change in elevation because it follows, you guessed it, the Green River. The trail winds through industrial parkways, neighborhoods, and the backsides of shopping centers. But there are plenty of parks, potties and picnic tables along the way. On any given day you might see Great Blue Herons skulking around in the river, or rabbits hopping in and out of the blackberry bushes. It's a great trail for bird watching and bird listening. Wildflowers, butterflies and dragonflies too. It's great that there is so much flora and fauna tucked between generic looking office buildings and resource sapping golf courses. You might even spot an osprey. The light was really bad on this particular day but still, it's an osprey.
You're never sure what you might see. Along the way you can spot affordable waterfront property. This one comes with some appliances.
Technically, the GRT begins at Cecil Moses Memorial Park and we've begun the trail there in the past. But I prefer to begin further south at Bicentennial Park in Tukwila. From here to the Riverbend Golf Complex in Kent you're pushing 15 miles round trip and that's pretty respectable as far as I'm concerned. And this ride is much more scenic than the stretch between Cecil Moses Park and Bicentennial Park. The golf course is a good place to turn around but you can certainly go farther on the GRT then hook up with the Interurban Trail and ride all the way to Auburn. Someday. I'm new to biking and I'll get there little by little.Crossing the river to the west side because of the detour. This is looking south. This is the second bridge between our starting point and the golf course.
Looking north, in the direction the river flows.
I was traveling lightly this day, only carrying a Nikon Coolpix in the pocket of my cargo shorts.
I think this is going to be a bountiful blackberry route in another 4-6 weeks.
Heading back to the GRT, looking to the east side of the river.
Yes, a beaver dam. I did catch sight of a beaver on one trip. Clearly, there's more than one.
Total distance traveled (in kilometers) as recorded by my Cateye Enduro 8 cyclometer, an early birthday present from S. A very good ride.