This post was originally static HTML. It has been backdated and inserted in the blog because it was too small to pretend it was an actual feature. And yes, this does hurt my OCD! Can you believe I used to have to hand code this? I integrated the blog into this site in July of 2006.
We took a chance on a dicey weather forcast under the guise of telling our significant others that they could go to IKEA while we skated. From I-5 North: Get off on exit 137 Milton / Fife. Immediately ffter you exit, turn left onto 20th stay on the same road for a mile or two to the 5 way intersection and stop light. Take a soft left (Milton Ave Way) uphill. Keep driving, you’ll see it on the right in a couple of miles. Milton is mere minutes north of Tacoma.
Milton has a very nice Grindline creation. The whole park (at least the tranny part) is U shaped. The left side has some nice hips and a dip towards the top of the U with another waterfall up into a very slightly over vert clamshell. The corner on the immediate left has a steep transition approaching the shallow end of a pool. Ok, that might be a bit of a stretch. The right side has an extended pocket and two deep bowls in the back in sort of a “B” shaped layout with a hip in the middle of the big flat wall. Of course there is the death box door at the bottom of the “U” that is on a tight transition, but makes a good place to exit the park in exhaustion at the end of your run. Someone has thoughtfully placed two big rocks at the end of the sidewalk to prevent your boards from rolling out into the street. To the far left is a street area that looks OK but we treated it mainly as a way to get to the bowls from the parking lot. Oh yeah, the street area has a burly railing on the steep bank that leads up to the bowls.
This park is a lot of fun. There is a helmet requirement but there doesn’t seem to be anyone to enforce it, aside from the locals, one of which reprimanded me for skating at the same time that he was in different part of the connected bowls. Apparently there is an informal “one at a time” rule which is pretty absurd. That’s suburbia for you. This Park is bigger than West Linn but not big enough for the two of us. There is a small playground that attracts mini-van loads of kids and busloads of youth groups, so the place can be a little overrun at times. Expect some sideways glances from some of the parents who tend to over react to things, while other parents are completely cool. Bizarre skatepark etiquette aside, everyone is friendly. As usual, there are were a bunch of out of towners, including two guys from Tacoma who live mere blocks away from the U.P. park but would rather drive to Milton to skate something built right. I didn’t get a lot of good pictures due to lethargy, sorry.
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