Lincoln Park trail closed because of slide concern

| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Hope you’re not going for a walk in Lincoln Park in this weather – but if you were planning on it, you might reconsider. One of the uphill trails is closed tonight, according to Seattle Parks‘ Joelle Hammerstad, “out of concern that it may slide.” West Seattle geologist and photographer Trileigh Tucker pointed out the problem, and took the photo above, showing what she described in e-mail to Parks as “a new ground crack, about 5-6 meters long, along the west side of Trail #3, which leads gradually up from Colman Pool to the bluff.” Parks sent an inspector, and what he saw led them to cordon off the area; Hammerstad says a parks engineer will go out tomorrow for a closer look at the situation.

gp December 13, 2010 (6:57 pm)

What, are we in Canada now? 5-6 meters?

Brian R December 13, 2010 (7:57 pm)

My family and I were on that trail today at around noon today and noticed the crack…it is much longer than 5-6 meters, as it moves from the middle of the path to the outside edge. We remarked at the time that the Parks Department should be out looking for issues like this, but didn’t call anybody…

J December 13, 2010 (8:14 pm)

Get with the program, gp! Trileigh, as a geologist, likely uses metric, so that the rest of the intelligent world can understand.

Nulu December 13, 2010 (8:37 pm)

Just another example of a hillside that has been sliding for as long as the bluff has been there.

J December 13, 2010 (8:47 pm)

I would stand on the other side of that crack…

Mark Ahlness December 13, 2010 (10:14 pm)

Park regulars will recognize Chris, one of the dear hearts and souls of Lincoln Park here, deep in thought, no doubt, on an ode to the situation. Looking forward to it, Chris – now move over, please :) – Mark

WSB December 13, 2010 (10:16 pm)

Thanks, Mark. We hadn’t even had a chance to ask who was in the photo – Joelle said Trileigh (thanks!) had told her we would have permission to use it, and given the possible safety risk, I didn’t want to wait to ferret out that detail before publishing the story – TR

Chuck and Sally\'s Van Man December 13, 2010 (11:47 pm)

I walked the beach trail BELOW this new problem area late this afternoon (left during a “sun” break and got dumped on halfway through the walk) and was constantly on the alert for the sounds of snapping limbs and vibrations signaling a slide above — it is a steep bluff afterall. Seems to me that it if they are really worried about a slide that this beach section should be closed as well. Not that I want it to be, but just sayin’.

Chuck

Trileigh December 14, 2010 (6:54 am)

That’s my dad in the photo! He is visiting from Connecticut for last Thursday’s ArtWalk and tonight’s West Seattle Symphony concert directed by Rob. He’s had a wonderful West Seattle visit – got to see bald eagles tussling, a Barred Owl in the park, and was even invited by Robin Lindsey of Seal Sitters to name a seal pup that same day! (Her name is Lina and you can see her picture on http://www.blubberblog.org.) I’m so proud to be able to show him what a great community West Seattle is, with our terrific WS Blog.

And yes, I did ask him to step to the other side of that crack!

Sorry, comment time is over.