My First Slough Hike

I'm now working one day a week at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center in Bellevue. It's a completely new facility and is just amazing. Pacific Science Center has been teaching classes there for 15 years but most people still don't know of our involvement there. Since we're trying to expand our classes, we need to get the word out to teachers and home school groups, hence my weekly trip to find stories to tell.

It really is an amazing place. The architects designed the buildings so they appear to be part of the landscape. Two of the buildings have living roofs, with plants and soil. The labs all face the wetlands below and with floor to ceiling windows, the views are outstanding. The students are taken down to the water to gather samples, then bring them back to study under microscopes. They're also taken on hikes with our teachers to study soil, wildlife, wetlands, and much more. An excellent program.

Today I had the chance to go off on my own for my first hike on some of the many trails through the park. To say it's spectacular is an understatement. You are right in the middle of Bellevue but you wouldn't know it. I could have spent hours out there just wandering, looking into the water, examining incredible mushrooms, snapping pictures, soaking up atmosphere, watching a garter snake in the middle of the trail, birds galore, and more.

This was taken around noon so the light was terrible, the sky was overcast, but it was quite warm. This little stretch is boardwalk, but most of the trail is good ol' dirt. Soggy dirt. It's a wetland after all.

Highly recommended. Check it out.