Showing posts with label Flora. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flora. Show all posts

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Year of Hiking 2025: Nos. 23 - 26

April brought some trail running and some exploring with Mazamas!

No. 23 - Wildwood - Newberry to Germantown to Newberry via BPA, Newton, Firelane 10, April 12:






No. 24 - Horsethief Butte, April 13:




No. 25 - Crawford Oaks - Vista Loop, April 13:




No. 26 - Larch Mountain via Multnomah Falls, April 19:

:)

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Year of Hiking 2023: 44 - 47

Brad's annual PCT section hike gave me a great excuse to get out in the woods!

No. 44 - PCT White Pass, Sept. 9:

No. 45 - PCT Cascade Locks, Sept. 15:


No. 46 - NW Portland Street Ramble, Sept. 21:


No. 47 - Toutle Trail, Sept. 23:



Fall is fabulous for hiking!!

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Perfect day off

I spent my day off doing one of my very favorite things: exploring!

Brad had an appointment to get the snow tires on my car, so that left me with his wheels: a first-gen electric car with a shorter range. 

I looked for trails closer to home and decided to check out a couple Lake Oswego spots. 

First stop: Iron Mountain Park:
This park, right next to the Lake Oswego Hunt Club, looked almost brand new! There was a sign and defined trails at the base of the hill but no map. I turned right and figured I'd see where it took me.

The single-track trail started flat, paralleling Iron Mountain Boulevard. 

After a bit, it climbed the steep hillside, and then a wide trail took me to a lookout with signs explaining the old iron-mining operation:

I popped out into a neighborhood and checked Google Maps. Seeing that Springbrook Park was close, I decided to take a detour:

I wandered the tangle of trails for a while, stopping to swing on the Uplands Elementary School playground.


The weather was cold and crisp, and I was all smiles. High overcast skies is one of my very favorite!

Armed again with Google Maps, I made my way back to Iron Mountain Park and the westside trails near the hunt club stables. Several horses greeted me as I hiked past :)

Next, I drove to Hallinan Elementary School to check out Hallinan Woods:
This guy greeted me:
It's a small wooded area with lots to look at:




I spotted another neighborhood park on the Google and had to check it out, too!

Freepons Park was my fourth exploration of the morning:
History:

I spotted trails in the steep hillside above the park and had to see where they went.
I ended up in another neighborhood in a much different tax bracket than mine! I walked to the top of the hill to take in the view:
On a clear day, Wy'East must look amazing from here!

What a perfect day off :)

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Year of Hiking 2022: 52

Marathoning and recovery (along with my first cold in THREE years!) left little time for finding new trails in October.

But we did head out early on a Sunday to hike the Larch Mountain loop. We chose a less-popular route and avoided crowds - my favorite!


We could see the Nakia Creek Fire burning across the river:
Smoke shrouded Wy'East:

This was the super-windy day that fanned the Nakia Creek Fire. In the time it took us to hike down from the top, the fire blew up, and the smoke plume suddenly looked apocalyptic: 
This was my 52nd trail of the year! Hopefully I can add a bunch more before the end of the year :)