Interlaken Park is a wooded ravine that Denny and Enzo reach during an unusually extended walk. Its tangled slopes and dense canopy offer a striking contrast to the open fields Enzo has just run through, giving him a new landscape in which to roam and play.

Setting and Approach

The pair walk north out of Madison Valley and into the Arboretum. After passing a stretch of road that feels dangerous because it has no walkway and cars travel well above the safe speed limit, they turn onto a smaller road. Denny lets Enzo off the leash, and the dog runs through wet, unmown grass, a familiar pleasure that recalls the fields of his childhood in Spangle. The walk continues beyond their usual turning point. They cross a pedestrian bridge, curl into Montlake, and cross another larger road before reaching a new park. Denny identifies it as Interlaken and unleashes Enzo there as well.

Landscape and Use

Unlike the fields and flatland Enzo has just crossed, Interlaken Park is a gnarled, twisty ravine, thick with vines, bushes, and groundcover beneath tall trees and a canopy of leaves. The terrain makes the park feel different from the open grass: its hills and undergrowth invite movement through obstacles and hiding places rather than a straight run across a field. As Denny follows the path, Enzo bounds up and down the hillside, hides in low brush, and turns his play into imagined adventures: he pictures himself as a secret agent, then as a movie-like predator tracking prey. The park’s varied ground supplies the setting for this shifting, self-directed play.

The Walk's Continuation

Denny and Enzo spend a long time walking and running through the park. Enzo runs five paces for each of Denny’s one, until he is exhausted and thirsty. They emerge into a neighborhood unfamiliar to Enzo, where Denny stops at a café for coffee and brings him water in a paper cup. The water is awkward for Enzo to drink but satisfies his thirst; after the brief stop, the walk continues.

Narrative Significance

Interlaken Park is defined through the contrast between Enzo’s remembered open fields and the ravine’s enclosed, irregular terrain. That contrast changes the character of his freedom: he first races through wet grass, then explores slopes and brush through imaginative games. The scene also measures the walk by the difference in pace between dog and human—Enzo ranges widely while Denny keeps steadily on—before exhaustion and thirst briefly interrupt their progress.