Seward Park Erratic
This was the hardest erratic for me to find because it was hidden in plain sight. Rather than sticking out of the ground it partially buried with a hiking trail running right over it. This erratic is located at the halfway point on the Erratic Trail loop in Seward Park. The Erratic trail is accessible from the Spine Trail that runs the length of the Bailey peninsula. I managed to walk over this rock at least three times over two separate visits before I realized where it was. I was asking park-goers where the giant boulder was with no luck. So I went to the internet for answers. I found several postings about erratics in Seward Park but none where about the one I was looking to find. Then I found a blog posting on a site called Diary of an Amateur Naturalist (http://springtimeincarkeek.blogspot.com/2015/06/erratic-crawl.html) that showed a picture of the Seward Park erratic. I realized that I should have been looking down at the trail not out into the woods. Needless to say felt a bit dumb about how easy it should have been to find this one. The rock appears to have fractured at some point because there is a large rock just below the one on the trail. This might account for its low profile which caused me to overlook that fact that erratics are not always huge. Since it is mostly buried and in pieces it is difficult to assess its dimensions.
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Leschi Park Erratic Located on a hillside of beautiful Leschi Park, the Leschi Park erratic is a fossiliferous erratic and is perhaps the most unique of all the erratics I found. Located on along a park trail the erratic is impossible to miss. Upon closer inspection it becomes clear that this is a special erratic because it contains the fossilized remains of shelled marine organisms like bivalves (clams and such) that lived millions of years ago. According to the website Northwest Geology Field Trips (https://nwgeology.wordpress.com/the-fieldtrips/glacial-erratic-field-trips/seattle-area-glacial-erratics/the-fossil-rich-erratic-at-leschi-park/), this erratic is believed to have originated approximately 95 miles north in Southern British Columbia or the Mount Baker area from its present location. Its thought to have arrived to this area as it was deposited by a receding glacier 13,000 to 14,000 years ago. The Leschi Park erratic is 5 feet (1.5 m) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic_boulders_of_King_County,_Washington)
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Thornton Creek Erratic
Thornton Creek erratic is the least interesting of all of the erratics in the tour. I was not able to find any information other than its is also known as "Erratic Flats" and it is located in the Kingfisher Natural Area near 17th Ave. NE and NE 104th S. Too bad we hadn't started the bird unit otherwise I would have been on the lookout for the Belted Kingfisher. The Thornton Creek erratic is 8 feet (2.4 m) tall. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic_boulders_of_King_County,_Washington)
Thornton Creek erratic is the least interesting of all of the erratics in the tour. I was not able to find any information other than its is also known as "Erratic Flats" and it is located in the Kingfisher Natural Area near 17th Ave. NE and NE 104th S. Too bad we hadn't started the bird unit otherwise I would have been on the lookout for the Belted Kingfisher. The Thornton Creek erratic is 8 feet (2.4 m) tall. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic_boulders_of_King_County,_Washington)
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Wedgwood Erratic
The Wedgwood erratic is the most storied and largest of all of the erratics on the tour. The rock is located in the middle of the Wedgwood neighborhood at the intersection of NE 72nd St and 28th Ave NE. The rock is so big that there is no room for the sidewalk so the sidewalk was built on the backside and the houses appear to have been set back to accommodate its enormous size. It is 80 feet (24 m) in circumference and 19 feet (5.8 m) or 26 feet (8 m) in height. Since 1970 it has been an offense punishable by a $100 fine to climb the rock. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic_boulders_of_King_County,_Washington) The rock is so famous it even has it's own Wikipedia page detailing its glorious history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedgwood_Rock According to it's page, the rock is believed to have originated from a mountain on Fidalgo Island called Mount Erie and deposited here in the Wedgwood neighborhood more than 14,000 years ago. The page goes on further to reveal the previous owners of the land the rock sits on as well as the rocks roll in local organizations using it as a place for rock climbing instruction for over 60 years. Two other interesting tidbits about this erratic include that it is estimated to weigh 700 metric tons and its original name of Big Rock which it was called until the 1940's. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedgwood_Rock)
The Wedgwood erratic is the most storied and largest of all of the erratics on the tour. The rock is located in the middle of the Wedgwood neighborhood at the intersection of NE 72nd St and 28th Ave NE. The rock is so big that there is no room for the sidewalk so the sidewalk was built on the backside and the houses appear to have been set back to accommodate its enormous size. It is 80 feet (24 m) in circumference and 19 feet (5.8 m) or 26 feet (8 m) in height. Since 1970 it has been an offense punishable by a $100 fine to climb the rock. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic_boulders_of_King_County,_Washington) The rock is so famous it even has it's own Wikipedia page detailing its glorious history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedgwood_Rock According to it's page, the rock is believed to have originated from a mountain on Fidalgo Island called Mount Erie and deposited here in the Wedgwood neighborhood more than 14,000 years ago. The page goes on further to reveal the previous owners of the land the rock sits on as well as the rocks roll in local organizations using it as a place for rock climbing instruction for over 60 years. Two other interesting tidbits about this erratic include that it is estimated to weigh 700 metric tons and its original name of Big Rock which it was called until the 1940's. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedgwood_Rock)
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Ravenna Park Erratic
Located in the middle of beautiful Ravenna Park in the Ravenna neighborhood the rock has seen better days. The victim of lame graffiti artists this erratic sits right next to a trail that received heavy traffic all year long. According to the Northwest Geology Field Trip website erratic is believed to possibly have originated from the coastal mountain ranges of British Columbia. I was able to find little else regarding any interesting or historical information on this rock. The Ravenna Park erratic is 10 feet (3.0 m) tall. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic_boulders_of_King_County,_Washington)
Located in the middle of beautiful Ravenna Park in the Ravenna neighborhood the rock has seen better days. The victim of lame graffiti artists this erratic sits right next to a trail that received heavy traffic all year long. According to the Northwest Geology Field Trip website erratic is believed to possibly have originated from the coastal mountain ranges of British Columbia. I was able to find little else regarding any interesting or historical information on this rock. The Ravenna Park erratic is 10 feet (3.0 m) tall. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic_boulders_of_King_County,_Washington)
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Ferdinand Park Erratic
The second most difficult erratic to find on the tour was the Ferdinand Street erratic in the Ferdinand Park neighborhood. This rock was very difficult to find because information I found on it said that the rock was blasted at some point to make way for development and some people were not sure it still existed. Perhaps the rock is so big that is why they could not completely remove it. Needless to say the rock does appear to be severely fractured and is almost unrecognizable from the stone retaining wall to the right of the rock, which gives credence to the rumors of blasting. I think some neighbors thought I was a strange person for taking out a selfie stick on the sidewalk to take a picture of what looks like and ordinary rock retaining wall. What remains of the Ferdinand Street makes it impossible to get an idea of its dimensions.
The second most difficult erratic to find on the tour was the Ferdinand Street erratic in the Ferdinand Park neighborhood. This rock was very difficult to find because information I found on it said that the rock was blasted at some point to make way for development and some people were not sure it still existed. Perhaps the rock is so big that is why they could not completely remove it. Needless to say the rock does appear to be severely fractured and is almost unrecognizable from the stone retaining wall to the right of the rock, which gives credence to the rumors of blasting. I think some neighbors thought I was a strange person for taking out a selfie stick on the sidewalk to take a picture of what looks like and ordinary rock retaining wall. What remains of the Ferdinand Street makes it impossible to get an idea of its dimensions.
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(Bonus) The lesser known Lake Stevens Erratic - Lake Stevens, WA
Although this was not part of the Seattle erratic tour I could not help but to include this one because I grew up nearby and walked past on a daily basis on my way to school. This erratic is interesting. There is no information available on it on the internet other than it is along 99th Ave. SE on the west side of the road near the intersection of 99th Ave. SE and 3rd St. NE. You cant miss it. It appears to be made of a granitic rock. If I had to guess it is probably 7 to 8 feet tall.
The real Lake Stevens erratic, shown below, is an erratic that I did not visit but thought it was worth mentioning as it is thought to be the largest in the state. I plan to visit this beast when I go home for holidays. I will be sure to upload pictures to this blog when i do. "They carefully measured the erratic. It is 34 feet (10.36 m) tall and 78 feet (23.77 m) in length. The circumference is 210 feet (64 m). This appears to be the largest known measured erratic in the state of Washington." (https://nwgeology.wordpress.com/the-fieldtrips/glacial-erratic-field-trips/the-lake-stevens-monster-largest-erratic-in-washington-largest-in-the-us/)
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I recently found an erratic on 38th ave not far north of Leschi. About 6 ft across and mostly buried.
ReplyDeleteYou ought to go erratic hunting on Whidbey- there are many fantastic rocks there
ReplyDelete