Sun, May 10 · 9:30 AM PDT
Let's stitch together visits to two of our local trolls -- the iconic Fremont Troll under the Aurora Bridge, and Frankie Feetsplinters at the Nordic Museum -- and two street markets -- the Sunday markets in Fremont and Ballard. Along the way, we'll visit as many of the local Weird Things as we can get to, finishing up with a visit to Archie McPhee.
To make the timing / distances work out, we'll start in neither Fremont nor Ballard, but rather in Woodland Park (see the Logistics section for details). I only know of two official Weird Things in Ballard, plus a few items of public art, so we'll head that way first, and fill in for the lack of Weird Things with some less-known pedestrian passageways. (Some of these have recently become a lot more well-known...) This segment of the walk is about 4.6 miles.
We'll stop at the Ballard Market for lunch. (Why Ballard and not Fremont? Because Ballard has more interesting food vendors, and is a farmers market -- Fremont emphasizes arts and crafts. But you can also bring food for lunch, just in case. Oh, and the Ballard Market closes at 2pm, whereas Fremont is open til 4pm.)
Then we'll head to Fremont. The first part of the route is devoid of Weird Things, so we can, if the group wants, skip that and catch a bus to where the Weird begins. When we get to Fremont, we'll see...
At this point, I had a detailed description of all the Weird and Interesting and Artful sights, with some history tossed in, but it was waaay too long, and no-one would read past it to the actual Logistics instructions. Instead, I'll put some teasers in the comments. And a detailed list could be considered spoilers -- don't read the comments if you'd rather be surprised.
We'll split the Fremont part of the Weird Things walk into two parts. First will be from Fremont Peak Park through sights west of Aurora -- this is about 2.9 miles (assuming we cut off the boring part by busing). This will lead us to the east entrance to the Fremont Market, where we'll again split up to explore, and pick a time to rejoin. The final leg of the walk will take us past some of the best Fremont sights -- this is where we'll pay our respects to the Fremont Troll, then visit Archie McPhee, before heading up to our starting point -- this is about 2.2 more miles.
Logistics
This is about 10 miles, and includes stairs, but it's broken up in pieces. There is one optional short bit on a dirt slope that isn't official trail, but everything should be doable in ordinary running shoes. Yes, we risk losing folks at each market (and at Archie McPhee's). There are buses nearby, if anyone needs to break off early.
Bring water (bring at least a liter / quart as there are some stretches without places to refill). Bring snacks, and lunch if you would rather not forage for lunch at the Ballard Market.
Our starting point is near the restroom that is a short way north of the south entrances to upper / west Woodland Park that are off of N 50th St near Woodland Park Ave N. These show where the restroom is:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/430885869#map=17/47.665510/-122.344024
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rBPKD25mdNUMpd8M7
Meet there by 9:30am. The event end time depends on how long folks want to stay at each of the markets.
Bus riders: The best option is the #44 bus, but the #5 and #62 are also usable. Use your favorite trip planning app to get detailed instructions.
Drivers: The entrance to the parking lot nearest to the starting point is on the north side of N 50th St a short distance west of Woodland Park Ave N.
Use comments to coordinate, so anyone can see them and reply.
If you sign up, but then can't go, please update your RSVP or let us know in a comment.
