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!