Library hikers arrive at Greenwood branch

At 10:30 this morning, 17 members of the Seattle Mountaineers and their friends left the Magnolia Public Library on their 11.8-mile journey to seven libraries in one day. The hikers will walk at about 3 miles per hour and visit the libraries in Queen Anne, Fremont, Wallingford, Green Lake, Greenwood and Ballard by about 4 p.m. today. Here they are just before leaving Magnolia:
 
At the Magnolia branch, the hikers got a special tour of the renovated library and had their Library Passports stamped. The goal is to get their passports stamped at each city library. Today’s hikers range in age from 24 up into their 70s (an 80-year-old has been on previous library hikes).
Phinney Ridge resident Dru Druzianich isn’t a member of the Mountaineers or a regular user of the library, but decided to sign up for the hike – and plans to use the library system – after reading our original post on PhinneyWood. Here’s Dru in the bright yellow going over the route with hike leader Kathy Biever:
 
Hiker Louise Mihay (second from left in above photo) came all the way from Olympia with friends and has participated in all the hikes this fall. “This gives us a chance to see Seattle. By the end I’ll have seen most of the neighborhoods,” she told me this morning.
Hike leader Kathy Biever says each library is special. “They all have different personalities, and friendly staff. I have never met people more friendly and upbeat,” she says.
We’ll update their progress throughout the day, and have a photo from the Greenwood Library this afternoon.
Update 1 p.m.: The hikers reached the Queen Anne Library just after 11:30, then crossed the Fremont Bridge just before 12:30 before breaking for lunch. Next, they’ll be heading to Wallingford and Green Lake, before stopping by the Greenwood Library around 3 p.m. Here they are crossing the Fremont Bridge, in front of Waiting for the Interurban, and at the Troll:



Update 3:30 p.m.: The hikers arrived at the Greenwood Library at 3:15 p.m. and had their photo taken outside before heading inside to have their library passports stamped with our branch’s tree stamp:


They’re on their way to the Ballard Library now, and should arrive shortly after 4 p.m.
Update 4:30 p.m.: They made it! The library hikers arrived at the Ballard Library at 4:15 p.m., completing their 11.8-mile hike, which began at 10:30 this morning in Magnolia. Here they are crossing the street just in front of the library:

And exhausted but happy in front of the Ballard Library: