Treks and Adventures
I had a section of Portland Metro area I had not explored before. This South West area contains two public area I needed to check out. With dry weather returning I went to explore Cooper Mt. Nature Park and Jenkins Estate. Now the unexpected was the forecast called for clouds and some sun but what I got was heavy fog. So no scenic views today. I did a three mile loop at Cooper Mt. and two plus mile loop at Jenkins Estate.
Cooper Mt. Nature Park Walk
Jenkins Estate Walk
Forecast had for one more day of nice weather before the rain returned so I wanted to get in one more hike. I tried doing Firelane One in Forest Park but the gate was close so I thought I would try it again. The parking lot and new start of the trail was put in a few years ago so it was nice to see what was done. The trail starts out steep but quickly changes into the service road for the power line. I added on some other trails to make a lollipop loop out of it. The first mile of the firelane has some great views and some great mud.
Taking advantage of a string of days of nice weather I did another training walk up to Pittock Mansion. Today was a blue sky day with clear views of Portland and the mountains. I also got better number on this walk. I did 4.8 miles with about 900 ft of total elev. gain and did 513 steps in an hour and fifty-eight min.
We decide to do another hike of Chehalem Ridge Nature Park but this time get some mileage number for a future Tom walk. It was a cool day but clear enough to get some views. Afterward we returned to Backwoods for lunch.
We had beautiful weather today so I thought I would take advantage of it to scout out a possible new place for the Tuesday hike. It was a lovely little lake with some interesting geology behind it. The park is really set up for summer with picnicking, swimming in the lake and camping. Winter time there were just a couple of folks fishing and some campers. As part of the scouting I want to check out the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Trail that starts at the park. The railroad has an interesting history but the trail is still work in progress.
