AVA Walking Convention 2001

>Point Defiance Walk - Tacoma - June 26

Point Defiance Park in Tacoma greeted 1050 walkers. The walk began at Owen Beach and we proceeded along Puget Sound on a wide walking trail. The path had inscriptions and quotes about walking and nature every 100 meters or so. I enjoyed the salt breeze and the views of fishing boats in the Sound.

More of This Feature • The 2001 AVA Convention • Rhododendron and Bonsai Gardens Walk • Seattle Walk • Photos Point Defiance • Photos Opening Social • Remlinger Farms Walk • Bellevue Walk • Snoqualmie Walk • Olympia Walk • Workshops and Meetings

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We turned uphill and toured the gardens. There is a wonderful variety of gardens here to ensure something is blooming every season - a rose garden, Japanese garden, iris garden, dahlia trial garden, Northwest native garden, herb garden, and rhododendron garden.

We passed through Fort Nisqually, which was originally built by the Hudson Bay Company in the Nisqually tidal flats in 1833 but reconstructed here on the bluff a century later.

Then a treat - the Camp 6 Logging Museum - an authentic old logging camp with its equipment and staff ready to tell the walkers about its operation.

Now we went into the woods. Towering Douglas fir, maples, alders, and the bark-shedding madronas. The understory included banks of salal bushes and ferns. The walking trails were good, if narrow in spots.

We broke out along the bluff and had views of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and up and down the Sound. I spied two gals walking swiftly with good form and thought, "Oh, there are some teenagers enjoying our walk." But I caught up to them and was pleasantly surprised to see these sprightly teens were eligible for AARP membership. Go, gals! That's why I walk - I want to be like them!

I loved the walk and the natural sounds, evergreen smells, and pleasant variety of hills and flats. This was a great walk to treat walkers from around the world to the real Northwest.

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Photos copyright 2001 Wendy Bumgardner, licensed to About.com