The Challenge

In the fall of 2005 I got a new baby puppy and promised myself that we would walk every day, no matter what kind of weather my hometown's temperate rainforest climate may throw at us. I had grown up walking my childhood dog in the forested hills of SW Portland but as a teenager without a car I was limited to places I could walk to (which are still cool and still part of my getting-in-the-woods routine 20 years later). Now that I was an actual adult (ha - I was 25 and unemployed) with an actual car (ha - I've gone through four heap-a-junks since then) I could begin to explore Portland's crown jewel of the park system, Forest Park.

Tiny Tumalo on Leif Erickson Dr in Forest Park, Dec 2005

Forest Park is an enormous urban forest on the north and east slopes of the Tualatin Mountains just beyond downtown Portland. The park itself is over 5,000 acres and includes about 70 miles of hiking trails through second growth Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar and alder forests. It is maintained by the Portland Parks and Recreation and the nonprofit Forest Park Conservancy. Portlanders love this park, and with good reason. It is spectacular.

I have been hiking in Forest Park (and other woodsy bits of the Tualatin Mountains here in Portland) for 9 years now and feel like I know it well. I'm ready for a new challenge; to document my hikes and my observations. The ultimate goal is to hike on every mile of Forest Park trails and maybe eventually to write trail guides for my favorite trails. This year, however, the goal is 50% of the distinct trail miles (so about 45 unique miles over 12 months) plus visiting my four favorite trails in each of the four seasons of the year. I hope that by documenting my trips to The Forest other people will be able to enjoy the park more, maybe I'll make some hiking buddies and I'll be able to see how the park changes over the seasons.

Better get hiking!