If it wasn't for the tops of office buildings poking above the jungle of vegetation and the faint background hum of Interstate 90, you might think you were deep in a backwoods swamp while canoeing Mercer Slough Nature Park.
Great blue herons stand still as a rock on sticklike legs not 15 feet away as you paddle quietly among the cattails, willows and bulrushes. Schools of tiny fish swim among the aquatic vegetation. One hundred feet up, an osprey circles the slough looking for lunch.
By Greg Johnston | August 12, 1999
