Howdy Tweets,

Another Tweet, concerned for my safety, made a good point about the
possibility that I might have been at risk yesterday when I explored the
ravine below St. Mark's Cathedral. And the western end of the ravine is
a little spooky, no doubt of that. I felt my hackles rise a bit as I
made my way down that steep path. There's quite a bit of noise from the
freeway, too, at that end of the ravine, so it might be difficult to hear
anyone else tromping around in the bushes or on the path behind. But I
stayed alert and began to relax the farther away from the freeway I
walked. The path is pretty well marked, indicating that it's used fairly
frequently (perhaps on weekends or after services on Sunday morning), and
there are two wooden bridges under construction to cross the stream that
runs down through the ravine. But it's also true that I saw or heard no
one else down there between 1:30 and 2 p.m., though I did see people
above on the balcony at the Cathedral Shop.

However, if anyone else wants to explore solo, there's another path that
leads down into a much more open spot in the ravine, where you're in view
of the Shop above, but where you can still enjoy the sights and sounds of
birds. Finding this path is a bit trickier than finding the one at the
western end of the parking lot. If you're standing in front of the
Cathedral Shop, turn to your right and walk along the edge of the parking
lot. When that edge curves and opens out slightly to your left, walk
another 40 or 50 feet (gosh, but I'm terrible at estimating distances)
and be on the lookout for a subtle break in the plant life and for a
faint trail-like area that's sprinkled with gravel. It looks deceptively
as though this "trail" just goes to the edge and drops over, but you'll
notice stone "steps" leading down to your left.

---Lisa <subplot at juno.com>
Seattle WA