If a tree falls in the forest…RUN for your life!

I probably shouldn’t be making light of this… my husband, aka our intrepid reporter Scupper, was almost struck by a giant mature maple just moments ago. He was walking our dog on the Mee Kwa Mooks trail when he heard the tree starting to crack. He and our dog literally started to run for their lives. No sooner did the cracking start, the tree came down just missing them.


As one of our neighbors say, hubby used up one of his nine lives by and our dog narrowly escaping this.

Mee Kwa Mooks is filled with mature trees, including end-of-life, maples. It’s not unusual to walk the trails and have to step over recently downed trees. This is the first time (hopefully the last) where we’ve experienced this close of an encounter.

We will be reporting this to the parks department to see if they can target dangerous trees.

Stay safe, friends!

Mystery of a well-stocked trout pond in Mee-Kwa-Mooks park

I've read about the trout pond once located on the old Schmitz estate (formally named Sans Souci), but have never been able to pinpoint exactly where it sat.  A cool sketch of San Souci's grounds as depicted by the great niece of the West Seattle pioneers Emma and Ferdinand shows a number of landmarks but no specific mention of the "trout pond" 

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Note a "small pond" drawn in on the right. The trout pond?

It was time to leash up the dog and sniff this thing out. The Blue Spruce tree was the first landmark we found…

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Love the early century concrete work!

Then it was off to find where the waterfall was located. Figured that the trout pond could be somewhere down slope from it.

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Appears to be original stone-work for the water feature.  

My guess is that the well stocked pond was located further down the hill near Beach Drive itself. The Parks Department just cleared out some diseased trees and brush (in effort to help the recent restoration project ) and may have uncovered the location.

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On a hot August day, you can almost smell the fish!

There's even a concrete pad that once was a site for a bench of some sorts.

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The bench site looks somewhat new but the Schmitz estate didn't come down 'til the late 60's.

This aerial photo from 1968 clearly shows where the 1907 circa 17 room mansion was excavated as well as the extensive gardens. But no sign of the famous trout pond.

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All the gardens were said to be watered naturally from "Spring Hill"

Here's an archived pic named Sans Souci that shows standing water near whats looks to be the shoreline. Is it the pond?

  787 - Sans Souci Alki Point

Alan Schmitz, grandson of Emma and Ferdinand, holding a photo of the historic mansion that once occupied the hillside of what is now Mee-Kwa-Mooks park.

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Again, no clue as to the whereabouts of the trout pond.

So that's the end of my quest to find the ghost fishing hole of Mee-Kwa-Mooks. If anyone out there actually knows where it existed, please share!

Scupper Sr. for Beach Drive Blog 

 

Me Kwa Mooks Illuminated at Night

Lights at West Seattle's Me Kwa Mooks

Photo compliments of Patrick Robinson of West Seattle Herald

Lights installed at Me Kwa Mooks/Emma Schmitz Park

Lights have been installed to help improve safety at Emma Schmitz/Me Kwa Mooks Park. This will help illuminate the lower park along the water which has very little visibility from the street.  The lights have been added to existing light poles.

 

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photo on left is before the additional light was added

 

This is the area where Greggette Guy may have been murdered earlier this year.  

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Many Beach Drive neighbors and others who typically walk this area are familiar with seeing grafiti and other crimes take place in this section of the park.  

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Let's hope shedding some light in this secluded area helps to make this park a safer place for all.

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The addition of lights to this area of Beach Drive is one of the recommendations from the community safety walk that took place at the beginning of this month. Hat tip to Tazi's human for sharing this tip with us.

Happening Now: Beach Safari at Mee Kwa Mooks

The Seattle Parks Department is hosting a "family beach safari" on the shores of Mee Kwa Mooks (aka Emma Schmitz Viewpoint) right now.  The walks are free and require advanced registration.

It's a great day to explore the beach with a low of minus 3.00 at 11:38 pm today.

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The next walk at this park is scheduled on May 20, 2012.  You can register for this walk by calling 206-386-4236 or by clicking here.