Well, maybe not my exact house, but at least I think that’s my neighborhood way down there in the trees.
This is the view of the world from Somerset, the community that covers the west-facing side of Cougar Mountain. On a clear day, the Olympic Mountains would serve as a stunning backdrop to Seattle.
(I enlarged a tiny bit of Seattle below so you can see the Space Needle, which stands to the left of downtown.)
The residents are paying for the view up here, but their million-dollar homes aren’t too shabby either. Props to the cyclists who live up in these neighborhoods and face this climb at the end of every ride.
I found myself up here after zooming over to the Newport Way Library in search of a King County Bicycle Map to replace mine that is totally trashed from over-use (actually, you can’t over-use it). The library didn’t have one, although the maps are supposed to be in stock.
The sculpture at the library is entitled “Basacolumbia #1. It’s basalt and welded steel.
Instead of returning home, I was lured up hill as I crossed Somerset Driver. I’d never ridden my bicycle up here, and I was curious how steep it would be.
Bicycle gears are a wonderful thing, especially the granny gears when you’re heading up a steep slope. I just pedaled in the easiest combination as I headed uphill at a fast walking pace.
The photo above was taken from the Somerset Recreation Club, which appears to be closed for the season. That’s the Newport area of Bellevue at the bottom of the hill, then the I-90 bridge over Lake Washington to Mercer Island, then Seattle behind that.
The Space Needle, left, was built as the focal point of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. Much of the exposition center still remains, although many buildings have different uses today. The top of the Space Needle was just painted gold in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the World’s Fair.
It was eerily quiet up here. The air was still and the distant traffic noise from I-405 down by the lake rumbled up the hill.
I shouldn’t have been surprised at how green everything looked from up here, but I was. Except for the roofs of houses on the slope right below the photo, everything else looks overgrown. Of course, those are pretty tightly packed subdivisions from here all the way to Seattle.
I pedaled up and over Somerset and returned down the back side past the Cougar Mountain Park again to Newcastle, where I stopped for a bunch of bananas and a loaf of bread. So I guess I can chalk up their ride as an errand.
30 Days of Biking
Total days — 19/19
Total miles — 261
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