The Senior Scene

Boardwalks and other walkways take visitors into a world of conifer forests, wetlands, prairies and animals ranging from owls to deer, coyotes and bobcats at Morse Wildlife Preserve in Graham.

The 238-acre preserve in south Pierce County is named for a family that donated land for education purposes and wildlife habitat. Admission is free on the second Sunday of each month, and guided tours, student field trips, and volunteer opportunities are offered.

Forterra, a non-profit land conservancy organization, manages the preserve.

More information is available at forterra.org/morse-wildlife-preserve and at 253-565-9278.

Work is underway on King County’s Lake to Sound Trail, an emerging 16-mile paved path that will extend from Lake Washington to Puget Sound and connect with four other regional trails.

Once completed, the multi-use trail will connect five cities – Renton, Tukwila, Burien, SeaTac, and Des Moines – and Sound Transit’s Tukwila International Boulevard Station. It also will link to the Eastside Rail Corridor Trail, Cedar River Trail, Interurban Trail, and Green River Trail.

The county will use a $600,000 grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Funding Board to pay for building about one-third of a mile of trail along Des Moines Memorial Drive from South Normandy Road to State Route 509/Eighth Avenue South. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic signals will be included in the project.

In 2017, the county opened a 1.5-mile segment of the Lake to Sound Trail that connected Normandy Park, Burien, and Tukwila and Sound Transit’s Link light rail station in Tukwila. It was largely funded by the county parks levy.

“Urban trails provide a crucial opportunity for outdoor recreation in communities that lack access to traditional open space,” said King County Councilman Dave Upthegrove, whose district includes all five cities the new segment of trail will pass through. “Health disparities across my district are higher than in any other part of the county. South King County residents deserve better and will greatly benefit from the completion of this trail.”

Residents of Village Concepts Retirement Communities of Burien could check one more thing off their bucket list by taking a flight in a 1942 Boeing Stearman biplane on July 10.

The flights were part of Village Concepts’ Project Bucket List to enrich their residents’ lives and grant lifelong dreams. Each biplane passenger took a 15 or 20-minute flight 1,000 feet above Renton in the open-cockpit plane, courtesy of Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation, a Carson City, Nev.-based non-profit organization that has made more than 3,000 Dream Flights honoring seniors and U.S. military veterans in long-term care facilities.

Taking the flights out of Renton Airport were several veterans, including Delbert Lainer and Ron Miller (Air Force), Louise Ashby, who was a nurse for the Navy, and Jordan Perrine, who served in the Army.

Summertime visits to Mount Rainier National Park come with the downside of the bulk of the 1 million-a-year visitors who create long wait times at the Nisqually and White River entrances and heavy road and parking lot congestion.

On weekends, the Paradise and Sunrise parking lots are filled by late morning. At Paradise, overflow parking is available at the Paradise picnic area (within walking distance to the visitor center, on the right as you approach Paradise) and along Paradise Valley Road. The road may require a long uphill walk to reach the visitor center, restrooms and trails.

When the Sunrise parking area is filled to capacity, vehicles are held at the White River entrance and then slowly metered in as other vehicles depart.

Park officials recommend using the following tips to have an enjoyable visit and avoid the worst of the congestion:

• Visiting on weekdays, and arriving in early morning or late afternoon, can help avoid crowds, long entrance station lines and delays, and difficulty finding a place to park.
• Have an alternate plan and destination in mind if long lines and waits are encountered entering the park. Experience the sights and activities of gateway communities during peak hours and weekends. U. S. Forest Service land and the Crystal Mountain Resort provide nearby destination alternatives.
• Using an annual park or interagency pass, or having the correct payment in cash, can minimize time spent at the entrance station and keep the line moving. Credit card transactions take more time to process and contribute to delays. A new option is purchasing the pass online through YourPassNow.com and printing the pass before you visit.
• Check road status for closures or other delays that may affect your travel plans.
• Check Twitter (an account isn‘t required to view) for congestion updates. The park will be tweeting more frequent wait-time information on weekends and holidays to assist with trip planning.
• At the Nisqually Entrance, please be mindful not to block driveways of neighboring residences and businesses along State Route 706 in Ashford on the approach to the gate. Visitors who typically enter via the park’s southwestern entrance near Ashford may also consider the southeastern entrance near Packwood as a shorter-wait alternative on busy weekends during July and August.
• As wait times increase to enter the park each summer weekend, break up your trip by visiting the public restroom in Elbe on SR-706 at the state Department of Transportation-managed safety rest area. In addition, visitors with children can let them stretch their legs at Ashford County Park, located at 29801 SR-706 in Ashford. The 80-acre park has trails, a playground with a large play structure, infant swings, and regular swings. There is plenty of parking, and public restrooms are located next to the playground.