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.

Hike #6: Lower Macleay Park

Trailhead: Lower Macleay Park at NW Upshur and what would be NW 30th Ave if it was numbered :)

Companions: Just Tumalo

Trails hiked on: Lower Macleay Trail

Miles hiked: 1.68 miles in 45 minutes

Unique miles hiked: 0.84 miles

Total challenge miles: 10.98 miles

Weather: Almost sunny!

Amenities: The Forest Park Conservancy headquarters is at the park trailhead and there is a lovely little open field under the Thurman Ave overpass. There is a flush toilet in the headquarters building, a water fountain, a picnic table as well as dog waste bags and a trash can. There is currently construction happening on the bridge so much of the park is closed off and the water fountain is turned off in the winter, but it will be a lovely park again in the summer! This trail head is also just blocks away from the busy business district of NW 23rd Ave.

Notes:

When I tell people I love Forest Park I get one of three responses: "Me too!", "Oh, that green stuff beyond downtown?" or "Ugh, I hate Forest Park." This last sentiment is usually followed with a "So many strollers and joggers and people with Starbucks cups in their hands. Ugh. Tourists!" And this trail is one of the ones they are talking about. It is popular and crowded. With people in fancy shoes and carrying their coffee. Babies. Yes. All of that. But ya know what? It's still one of my very favorite trails because it is easy to get to, easy to walk on and spectacularly beautiful. That is why it is one of my four seasonal hikes on this challenge.

This hike happened at the end of my terrible cold and just before I got hit with a killer sinus infection. It was one glorious afternoon wedged in between two weeks of being miserable and I'm so glad I spent it in this part of Forest Park. The trail starts in a park at the end of a residential street in NW Portland and the first quarter mile of it is a paved, low elevation gain all access trail. The paved part ends with a beautiful observation area along the creek but the trail itself continues up the creek canyon.

Every step of this trail is just magnificent. There is a bridge where the trail crosses the creek right by an amazing water fall, other places where you are walking along past the cascading creek and some of the easiest to get to old growth trees in Forest Park. After 8/10th of a mile the Lower Macleay Trail meets the Wildwood Trail at a classic Portland Landmark: The Witches House. I guess some people call it The Stone House, and the truth of the matter is that it was a WPA built "comfort station", but it sure looks like a witches house, so that's what I call it. Apparently, the plumbing was destroyed in the 1963 Columbus Day Storm and the park department has since added some stairs and railings to keep people from climbing on it in unsafe ways. There is a Forest Park Conservancy trail map at the Witches House, but it has been vandalized. Jerks.

Today I just walked up to the Witches House and back. Often, I continue straight along the Wildwood Trail to where it starts to climb steeply up the canyon towards Upper Macleay Trail (another place I absolutely love in Forest Park). Turning right onto the Wildwood is another option for a longer walk but it's not a terribly exciting part of the park. Since I was feeling sick I just walked back down and took a nap.

This is not a trail to try if you want to be all alone in the woods. I actually avoid this trail on summer weekends because it gets too crowded but on MLK day Monday I wasn't alone, but it also wasn't terrible. Dealing with other people is worth it, though, for the amazing beauty of the area. I highly recommend this trail for beginning hikers, or for showing off Forest Park to someone who's not much of a walker. Even with the tourists, it's worth it.

Interlude: Sandy River Delta

It was sunny today so rather than hike in the woods I took Tumalo out to the Sandy River Delta. This is distinctly not in the Tualatin Mountains, but it is a lovely place for a dog walk.

The Sandy River Delta, sometimes called Thousand Acres, is a piece of BLM land on the east side of the Sandy River at its confluence with the Columbia. Access is from Exit 18 off I-84 and the BLM has recently upgraded the parking lot and pit toilets there. It is a legal off leash area and is often busy with bicyclists, horses and lots and lots and lots of dogs. Being at the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge it gets some ugly weather in the winter, and being mostly a big giant field is can be baking in the summer. But the wind was still today and the sun was out. In fact, it was gorgeous.

Hike #5: George Himes Park

Trailhead: George Himes Park (SW Terwilliger and SW Nebraska, between SW Barbur Blvd and SW Capitol Hwy).

What I listened to in the car: This trail head is less than a mile from my house so I just caught the news break between A Prairie Home Companion and The Splendid Table on OPB radio  :)

Companions: Just Tumalo!

 Trails hiked on: Unnamed trails in George Himes Park.

Miles hiked: 0.6 miles (calculated on google maps), in 30 minutes

Unique miles hiked: 0.6 miles

Total challenge miles: 9.3 miles

Weather: Threatening to rain at any moment, but a little blue sky and only a few sprinkles.

Amenities: Picnic tables only.

Notes:

George Himes park is a tiny little pocket park in the very southern tip of the Tualatin Mountains. It is not technically part of Forest Park but I am including it, along with Marquam Nature Park, Council Crest and the Terwilliger Parkway trails, in my challenge. They're more or less contiguous, I hike there a lot and it's my challenge so I get to make up my own rules  ;)

I had a terrible cold this weekend and hardly made it out of the house yesterday. I was feeling a bit better today but still could hardly make it around this trail without losing my breath. This trail is the closest trail to my house and it was not raining so it seemed like a decent choice for this afternoon.

The trail starts on SW Nebraska with a small picnic area. The trail is a loop that goes down into a little canyon and back up with the top part of the loop paralleling the Terwilliger Trail, a well used paved running path that goes the whole length of Terwilliger Blvd from SW Barbur Blvd up to downtown.

At 6/10th of a mile the loop is short but sweet. There is a little bridge over a creek and pretty creek that is quite visible in the winter. From the very bottom of the trail you can take an offshoot trail down that goes under the interstate and down some stairs all the way to Willamette Park. I've never gone down that far, but the view from under the freeway is pretty spectacular.

This park has always felt like a little treasure to me. Today I found a tree that someone had left Christmas ornaments on. A couple years ago I found a beautiful cat skull peeking out from the undergrowth. I wonder what you will find when you go visit.

Hike #4: Forest Lane

Trailhead: The end of Forest Lane off NW 53rd. This turns into Firelane 1.

What I listened to in the car: This American Life on the radio! They were playing a story from the new podcast Invisibilia about how expectations effect outcomes in our lives.

Companions: Just Tumalo!

Trails hiked on: Firelane 1, the Wildwood Trail and the Nature Trail

Miles hiked: 2.6 miles

Unique miles hiked: 2 miles

Total challenge miles: 8.7 miles

Weather: Very foggy and wet and muddy

Notes:

This is one of my favorite parts of the park and one I only found after a few years of exploring. I found the trail heads on SW 53rd quickly, but Forest Lane looks like the kind of road you shouldn't get to drive down if you don't have business there. Turns out, though, it's a trail head that gets you to some absolutely fantastic parts of Forest Park.

The day was very foggy and the trail very muddy, but it was still beautiful. After 6/10th of a mile along Firelane 1 you find yourself in a bit of an opening in the woods. There is one of those lovely maps where the Wildwood trail crosses Firelane 1. I turned left and walked down through the forest towards the Nature Trail. The trail descends gently and then drops down some switchbacks where you see the sign for the connector to the Nature Trail. If you continue down the Wildwood Trail a little bit further you can make a loop down the Chestnut trail and back up that is absolutely beautiful. I wasn't up for the down and up that canyon today, so I just made a smaller loop with the Nature Trail. The Nature Trail was muddy but busy today. There were lots of runners and families out enjoying the park. The trail winds its way up to the hill back to Firelane 1.

I plan to come back to this part of the park a number of times this year. In addition to doing the loop down the Chestnut Tail, I've never been down Firelane 1 all the way to Leif Ericson or the Wildwood back towards 53rd Ave. It's a gorgeous part of the park.

Hike #3: Hoyt Arboretum Fir Trail

Trailhead: Hoyt Arboretum parking lot on SW Fairview Blvd

Arboretum Map

What I listened to in the car: Radiolab's Are You Sure. Stories of surety and lack there of. The last story is intense and unresolved. Radiolab at it's best.

Companions: Just Tumalo!


Trails hiked on: Hoyt Arboretum's Fir, Creek and Redwood trails plus a little bit of the Wildwood Trail

Miles hiked: 1 mile (calculated via this map, not the usual Forest Park Conservancy maps), 30 minutes.

Unique miles hiked: 1 mile

Total challenge miles:  6.13 miles

Weather: Might rain at any moment, but it didn't

Notes:

Larch, Coast Redwood and Giant Sequoias!

Hoyt Arboretum is 189 acres at the south end of Forest Park. It is managed as a living museum that includes over 2,000 species along twelve miles of trails. The trails are well maintained, well marked and well used. I generally only walk in the conifer collection on the back slope of the arboretum and even then only on wet days or week days because it just gets so crowded. If you don't have a dog or don't mind crowds, the arboretum is a lovely place to walk.

Today I walked along the Fir Trail and then down through the redwood collection and back along the Creek Trail. I've spent a lot of time in the woods of western Oregon and I generally am very familiar with the trees most common around here. One of the joys of the arboretum is that I get to see some of the less familiar trees. Today's trip took me through a forest of larch, coast redwoods, yellow cedars and white firs.

The deck and the redwoods. Ewoks!

The Redwood trail takes you down through a dark stand of coast and giant redwoods to a beautiful wooden viewing deck. I almost expected some Ewoks to come poking out from behind the big trees. From there I walked back towards the parking lot along the Creek Trail. There is a magic tree along that trail with it's roots exposed by the creek. No doubt gnomes live there  :)   Unlike the Newton Road hike the day before, this part of the park is so very touched by human hands. Less ravens, more gnomes.

There arboretum is a wonderful place to watch the seasons change. I'm excited to go back over the course of the year. You should check it out, too!

Hike #2: Newton Road to the Wildwood

Trailhead: Newton Road. Newton road is just north/past Germantown Road. The gravel road is about a quarter of a mile long and ends at a good sized parking lot. Be careful about both pot holes and oncoming traffic.

What I listened to in the car: Symphony of Science. Artist John Boswell has used auto-tune software to turn audio of scientists into pretty awesome songs. One of my favorites is We Are Stardust featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Feynman and Lawrence Krauss.

Companions: My friend Elise and Tumalo

Forest Park Conservancy's Trail map of this area

Trails hiked on: Newton Road and the Wildwood Trail

Miles hiked: 3.58 miles, 2 hours

Unique miles hiked: 2.43 miles (The 1.15 miles on the Wildwood between Newton Road and the BPA road were only counted once)

Total challenge miles: 5.13 miles


Weather: Cool and moist and foggy.

Notes: 

My friend Elise joined Tumalo and I for a nice walk through the foggy woods of the far end of Forest Park. I missed a turn on the way out and I ended up getting to Skyline waaaayyyyy out past Newberry Rd. We ended up driving the entire length of the park on the way home.

Newton Road is a great trail head with a couple of different loop and lolly pop hike options. Newton Road and Fireland 10 both run up/down hill (though, much of Newton Road is flat-ish) and intersect with the Wildwood Trail. The Wildwood runs the entire length of the park, a total of 30 miles! I honestly believe this stretch of the Wildwood Trail is the prettiest in the park making it worth the drive.

The Power Line and the Mist

We started out heading north along Newton Road. This is a nice wide trail, but still muddy this time of year. At the intersection with the Wildwood trail we turned left and headed down through these beautiful gullies and thick woods. The mist and fog made the forest look particularly beautiful even as we picked our way through some very muddy patches. After about a mile the trail crosses the power line and then meets with the BPA road. We went back the way we came and then continued on the Wildwood Trail all the way back to the parking lot. Between the intersection at Newton Road and the second connecting trail back to the parking lot is stunningly gorgeous. The trail winds through old fir and cedar forests and over a couple wooden bridges. I have often heard ravens and woodpeckers here though today we just heard a flock of chickadees high up in the canopy.

I was so glad to have a friend for this hike. It ended up being a long hike but we had lovely conversation and even the mud didn't distract from our good time. A great hike in the woods!