And a great day to be a:
I had to be home at 7 pm yesterday for a family dinner so I woke early(about 2:30 am) got ready and biked my way over to the Marquam TH off terwilliger road. I arrived at about 4 am with hopes of being able to make it to german town and back before supper making a 60 mile hike with a 10 mile bike ride added on:
No bus service on Beaverton-hillsdale at 4 am tho:
Getting ready at the TH:
Some coyotes howled at my presence as I made my way up toward Council Crest and then the Wildwood Trail. I passed by the zoo and made my way around to double wildwood signs near the archery range:
The day was just coming in as I hit the old stone house on Balch Creek:
I didnt end up making it to German Town so I turned around at the 20 mile marker to make it home one time. On the way in it was beautiful to watch spring unfolding right in front of me. The Indian Plum is coming on strong:
As well as the Wild Ginger:
And the Red Elderberry:
Nothing better than all the licorice ferns that pop out from the trees in every direction:
Is this that Garlic Mustard crap?
Ofcourse for those interested, there was still lots of mud to play in
But there have been lots of nice improvements in the ongoing battle with the sloppy stuff:
By the time I hit the 15 mile mark the fog had completely lifted and it was a bluebird day:
Pretty soon it was 11 am and time to turn around:
Heading back across the Saltz and a little tff meetup:
There are some awesome old Doug-firs in some areas of the park:
I love this old moss covered WW sign:
and this one:
Pretty soon I was huffing and puffing down to Holman Lane and Balch Creek for the climb up to the Pittock:
I toured around the Pittock to get some of the views that were hiding under fog in the morning:
With another 5 miles on the Marquam Trail and a 5 mile bike ride home after that I gave in and couldnt resist sneaking through the arboretum to cut off a little distance. I hopped over to the Memorial and went by old Peggy:
And boom, it got dark just before I reached the Marquam TH around 6:45 ish. Made it home for dinner just a tad late and relaxed for the rest of the night. What a day
