Interlude: Charlotte Mountain

I was at the coast this weekend for my church retreat and hiked up Charlotte Mountain with two friends. The trail head is within Twin Rocks Friends Camp so it's not really a public trail. The trail starts out along a creek with beautiful skunk cabbage and then heads up through a very lush second growth forest. We enjoyed looking at the big old growth stumps and the plank holes 19th century loggers cut into them. At the top we could see down to the beach and the rocks that give the camp it's name. Conversation was good and the day beautiful.

Hike #12: Firelane 1

Trailhead: Firelane 1. The parking for this hike is street parking along St. Helens road.

What I listened to in the car: Bruce Springsteen Rocky Ground

Companions: Tumalo

Trails hiked on: Firelane 1

Miles hiked: 1.2 miles (1 hr)

Unique miles hiked: 0.6 miles

Total challenge miles: 23.3 miles

Weather: It was close to sunset, but the sky was clear and gorgeous

Amenities: None


Notes:

This  is a bit of a hidden trail and not one I frequent. I noticed the sign for the trailhead one day when driving home from Lower Saltzman Road and have only hiked on it maybe two times since then. The path is the cleared right of way under a power line and it is steep and muddy in many parts. It also has some spectacular views of the mountains and Willamette River. 

Today I headed up the trail just a little bit before sunset. I only went a little ways up this time, but the views were spectacular. It was worth the slog in the mud - there were nettles! Spring has sprung!





 

Hike #11: Upper McLeay Park

Trailhead: Upper Macleay


Companions: Tumalo

Trails hiked on: Upper McLeay Trail, McLeay Trail and Wildwood Trail

Miles hiked: 1.6 miles (50 minutes)

Unique miles hiked: 1.6 miles

Total challenge miles: 22.7 miles

Weather: Sun and giant puffy clouds

Amenities: There is a parking area quite off the road across Cornell and a crosswalk. No other amenities but it's less than a mile uphill to the Pittock Mansion!

Notes:

I absolutely love this trail. Above Cornell Road there are is a warren of trails on the hill below Pittock Mansion. You get some beautiful vistas between the trees and there are always interesting tidbits in the forest floor. There are a couple loops or spurs you can take off the Wildwood to change up the hike from the same trail head.

Today, I took the first trail to the right after the crosswalk, the Upper McLeay Trail. It is early spring so the first green forbes are poking out of the forest duff.  At the major intersection after half a mile I continued on the same trail until it met the neighborhood street. I took the McLeay trail back to the Wildwood Trail, enjoying the beautiful downed logs and red currant blossoms! As I headed back down the Wildwood trail to my car I saw this crazy mushroom. What tha fungus?? What a beautiful forest to visit  :)

                            

Hike #10: Springville Road to Fire Lane 7

Trailhead: Springville Road off Skyline

What I listened to in the car: Singing along to Axis of Awesome's 4 Chord Song. Things white people like include novelty bands, fo sho.

Companions: Tumalo!

Trails hiked on: Fire lane 7, the Oil Line Road, Wildwood Trail and the Ridge Trail.

Miles hiked: 3.2 miles (1 hour and 25 minutes)

Unique miles hiked: 2.8 miles

Total challenge miles: 21.2 miles

Weather: Sunny and warm! Spring is in the air!

Amenities: Sometimes there are doggy bags, but I don't even think there is a trash can.

Notes:

It was a gorgeous day for a hike today! The weather has been unseasonably warm and sunny and spring is definitely springing. This is a nice trail head because there are so many options. A network of trails and access roads fan out from the parking lot on Springville Road and they all intersect with the Wildwood Trail, making getting lost pretty hard to do. I chose to go down the Oil Line Road and up the Ridge Trail.

Much of the ridge that Firelane 7 goes along is covered in deciduous trees that are still bare. There were some pretty views of the industrial area. After getting down to the Wildwood trail there were some darker patches of cedar and fir trees. Spring is springing like crazy and in addition to new leaves of Indian Plum there was new growth of bedstraw and other forbes and even some leaves on the thimble berries! There were lots of birds out, too. In addition to some crows and a raven I heard a number of little winter wrens singing like crazy and a couple flocks of chickadees still in winter formation.

I'll be heading back to this trailhead a number of times because there are many other loops to be done here. Some of the trails even go down all the way to Leif Erikson for more loop options. Happy spring time!

Hike #9: Upper Saltzman

Trailhead: Upper Saltzman Road (NW Saltzman and NW Skyline Blvd)

What I listened to in the car: Radiolab Things. One of my favorites.

Companions: Just Tummy. I didn't even take my camera.

Trails hiked on: Firelane 5, Wildwood Trail, Saltzman Road

Miles hiked: 3.4 miles (1 hr 30 minutes)

Unique miles hiked: 3.1 miles

Total challenge miles: 18.3 miles

Weather: Not too rainy - what a winter!

Amenities: There are poop bags and a garbage can at the parking area there on NW Saltzman Road. The couple hundred yards of Saltzman between NW Skyline and the gate is graveled and potholed. There is not a "parking lot", but plenty of parking along the road.

Notes:

This is another of my favorite hikes. It's close enough to town that it doesn't feel onerous to drive out, but it's far enough out that you might have the hike mostly to yourself. Saltzman Road is a graveled and graded road that runs uphill/downhill through the park (I did a hike from the Lower Saltzman trailhead earlier in the year already) and Firelane 5 is also an uphill/downhill path. The upper part of Firelane 5 is maintained as a two track fire road, but the portion just above the Wildwood Trail is very muddy and overgrown.

The hike I did today was straight down Firelane 5 to the Wildwood trail and then about 1/3 of a mile to the left on the Wildwood. There are a couple side trails off Firelane 5 that take you to place where there's a bit of a view of Mt. Hood, or just a flat place where kids makes fires and party. The Wildwood Trail is beautiful in this stretch, going through an old burn to the left of Firelane 5 and across a lovely bridge on the way to Saltzman Road. I generally like to choose hikes that go uphill first, but having the uphill be on the wide, graveled road of Saltzman Road makes it seem less onerous. This is a popular hike for a reason.

Hike #8: Germantown Rd and Leif Erikson Rd

Trailhead: Germantown Road at Leif Erikson Rd (there are two parking areas/trail heads along Germantown Rd, this the the downhill one.)

What I listened to in the car: Episode 3 of Serial. It gives me serious anxiety so I'm going slowly through the series, but I sure am hooked.

Companions: Just Tummy!

Trails hiked on: Cannon Trail, the Wildwood Trail, the Waterline Trail and Leif Erikson Rd

Miles hiked: 2.2 miles (1 hr 10 minutes)


Unique miles hiked: 2.2 miles

Total challenge miles: 15.2

Weather: Cloudy and cool, but not raining

Amenities: There is a portapotty just up the Leif Erikson from the parking lot I parked at, but I went the other direction. The parking lot is off the road and there is a nice sign with a map and information about the park.

Notes: 

This is a nice loop that goes through a lovely, but well used part of the park. The sign in the parking lot suggests a similar loop but I always like my loops to go uphill first. I headed up hill from the parking lot along the Cannon Trail. It's a lovely short trail, but quite muddy. We've ha such an odd dry winter that the trail wasn't terribly muddy but I've had other days where both Tumalo and I are up to our elbows in mud on that trail.

Tumalo at the top of muddy Waterline Trail

This section of the Wildwood Trail is quite pretty. The trail winds in and out of the creek canyons that run down the slope. There are lots of dense stands of fir and cedars along here, too. I headed down hill on the Waterline Trail, but you could go another mile and a half further along the Wildwood to Springville Road for a longer loop. The Waterline Trail is a muddy mess but my memory is that Springville isn't terribly much better. The trails that go up and down hill in Forest Park are generally pretty muddy. The Tualatin Hills are covered in a thick clay soil that just gets swampy in our wet wet winters.

After making it down the mud pit of the Waterline Trail, Leif Erikson Road was a pleasure. It was carved into the hillside as a road for future residential development in the early 20th century, but the area just isn't suited to houses. That mud that forms on the steep trails causes many houses to slip and slide down the slopes around Forest Park and as the developer realized this, the land was left to become city property. Leif Erikson remains a wide, graded and graveled road that is easy to walk or bike on. It is popular with runners and mountain bikers, and horses are allowed on it as well. The smooth curves and almost flat elevation made a smooth walk back to the car. I do love this part of the park and look forward to coming back many times this year.

Hike #7: Marquam Nature Park to Council Crest

Trailhead: Marquam Nature Park (SW Marquam Road at SW Sam Jackson Park Road - just below OHSU)

What I listened to in the car: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something. Also, Safety Dance by Men With Hats. Don't ask.

Companions: El Pan! One of my best friends from Outdoor School. And of course, Tumalo.

Trails hiked on: Shelter Trail, Marquam Trail and Sunnyside Trail. Technically, this is not part of Forest Park but part of Marquam Park. They are contiguous via the Marquam Trail which continues on to the Arboretum in Forest Park.

Miles hiked: 2.8 miles total (2 hr 10 minutes - and a 750 foot elevation gain in 1.6 miles).

Unique miles hiked: 2.1 miles

Total challenge miles: 13 miles

Weather: We thought we might get rained on, but we didn't

Amenities: The Marquam Nature Park has a beautiful permanant shelter with maps and information about the wildlife and history of the area, a beautiful mosiac retaining wall holding up a little grassy area and a water fountain. No bathrooms.

Notes:

Me and Tumalo on Council Crest

This is one of my very favorite hike in the Tualatin Mountains. It's not very long, but the elevation gain makes it a challenge and the fact that you get to the top of a hill makes you feel all good about your life. The hike starts at Marquam Nature Park where there is a nice parking lot, a picnic shelter and a water fountain. I regularly do a shorter loop through the park but today headed up the hill to Council Crest. I started with the gravel road off to the left heading uphill from the shelter called the Shelter Loop. After 500 feet the Connor Trail meets the Shelter Loop, which heads up over the hill to OHSU hospital, and then after about 0.3 miles you can turn right onto the Marquam Trail, go up a couple wooden steps and head around around the nose of the hill back over to the trail that keeps going up the hill.

The trails are all well marked and well maintained so it's hard to get lost. The Marquam Trail is part of the 40 Mile Loop, a cool inter-agency project that connects trails together around the whole Portland Metro area. At the top of Marquam Nature Park the trail leads you up through the wooded right of way between and behind houses. I always look at those houses on stilts and wonder at their lack of geology education - these mountains are slippery! But having a back deck overlooking a wooded canyon does seem pretty cool.

Black dog on top of a mountain

After 1.6 miles you cross one last road and you are at Council Crest Park! There is an off leash dog park at this park as well as an observation patio with some signs about the views. On clear days you can see Mt. Hood to the south east, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and even Mt. Rainier off to the northeast as well as nice views of downtown, the Willamette and Columbia Rivers and the volcanic buttes of East Portland.  There are water fountains at Council Crest Park, but no bathrooms here either. Someday I'll take the trail north and head across Hwy 26 over to Washington Park, but today we headed back down the hill.

At the junction at the top of Marquam Nature Park I stayed to the left and took the Sunnyside Trail back down. This trail is just a little bit more direct back down to the shelter, and Tumalo likes having some new things to sniff at. This trail does tend to be more muddy than the others, but it also crosses a couple creeks so is very scenic.

Clear Signage along these trails

This hike is Tumalo's traditional Birthday Hike (because that's the kind of birthday present dogs really want) so I know I'll be back later in the year. I'll also, no doubt, come for shorter loops. You can also take the Marquam Trail the other direction from the gravel road this hike starts on and drop down into the Terwilliger Parkway, another wooded area I like to hike in. Lots of opportunities for fun hikes from this trailhead. It's a real gem of the city.