Quick walk around the Union Bay Natural Area trails with a detour over to the University of Washington quad to see the cherry trees Sunday morning. The route was an easy messy loop down along the water, up Rainier Vista past Drumheller fountain and to the quad, then back down the big set of stairs and over to the main Union Bay parking area. Total distance ended up at a shy 4 miles. All the Union Bay trails were in good condition with no current flooding at all and everything else was typical paved walkway. The only restrooms on the route are at the Center for Urban Horticulture and then only when open, though the UW had stationed a couple pairs of sanicans near the quad for all the cherry blossom visitors (which were very busy.)
Quite a bit of wildlife out, a bunch of big heron all over, several kinds of ducks, cormorant, sparrow, robin, geese, heard a bald eagle but did not see it, etc. The area around the quad was very busy plus many, many additional folks coming and going along Rainier Vista, hanging out at Drumheller fountain and really all over campus - probably 10k, maybe more. It amazes me the number of folks the cherry blossoms have been drawing in recent years. They are probably a couple days before peak and should look really nice for a week. Union Bay was also fairly busy with groups of birders, family groups, jogging groups, etc, etc. A beautiful little walk with the additional bit over to the cherries if you are interested.
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