PORTLAND:
It has been two weeks since moving to Portland. Definitely feels like we are still on vacation. This is mainly because I have not started work yet. It will probably feel more real after that.
Friday was a laid back day. After not doing much in the morning, my husband and I did venture to the local Mt. Tabor Park for some stair climbing. This is a extinct volcanic cinder cone with what seems like an endless series of stairs to the top. At the top there is a forest park with views of downtown Portland, Mt. Hood, and glimpses of Mt. St. Helens. We climbed the stairs three times and found out that I am still very much so out of shape.
Continuing on to Saturday, a heat wave was upon the nation and this did not leave out the PNW. Temperatures were easily reaching the 90s and most homes in Portland do not have air conditioning. When it gets this hot in Portland, you just get out of the house, heading to the mountains or the rivers. We decided to head back to the Clackamus River to cool off with another float. We met at Elka Bee's Coffee Shop & Tea Haus along the way for some breakfast. I had a Lavender Honey ice coffee and an egg and cheese on a ciabatta roll. For some reason, I really love the taste of lavender in coffee, ice cream or chocolate.
With our bellies satisfied, we headed down to the river. We decided to launch from a location further up the river at the Lower McIver boat ramp. The swan was back at it again! Just starting off, we hit one section of class II+ rapids which were fairly intense for floaters. The swan not being seasoned for white water did not handle it well and flipped. Luckily the rider was able to recover quickly. The $12 Walmart raft was able to evade the rough section and we avoided the same fate. The river was likely 60 degrees and we all took turns slipping in at the calmer areas to cool off. It took a surprisingly long time to get to the Burton Bridge, which is where we launched the first time. The river was flowing a bit slower today. After the spring snow melt, the river slowly looses speed heading further into the summer months. At one point, we had to walk our floats over a very shallow section. It is not fun trying to float over rocks. They are not forgiving. We all made it back in one piece, a little bruised maybe. It was otherwise another successful float. Small tip: when you park the pick up car down stream, make sure you don't leave your car keys locked in the car parked 10 miles upstream. This resulted in a pleasant Uber ride back and great lesson learned!
Sunday was another laid back day, which seems to be the pattern so far. We partook in another Portland tradition and headed to a local farmers market. There are over 50 farmer markets located in the city. We headed to Lents International farmers market. I invested in a home made Mexican spinach and tofu tamale from the Tamale Poblanos tent. So delicious! They also make horchata drinks with hibiscus, watermelon and lemonade flavors. My friend got local honey from one tent and three cups of locally grown perfectly ripe blackberries from the Big E Berry farm tent. It was wonderful to support and enjoy what the local markets had to offer.
Monday rolled around like it does and we decided to get out of Oregon for the afternoon. We headed across the Columbia River to Washougal, Washington for a hike at Cape Horn. Southern Washington looks just like Oregon except with less people. The I-205 branches into Hwy 14 which leads east along the Columbia River gorge. We pulled off into the trail parking lot and started on the upper trail to the Cape Horn look out. The lower trail leads to the Cape Horn Falls but is closed until July 15 due to nesting Peregrine falcons. It took about an hour of hiking to make it up to the 1350 ft overlook. The view looks directly across the Columbia River Gorge to the Oregon side. From the view, you can see Angel's Rest, our very first Oregon hike, and the top of Multnomah falls.
We continued along the trail past horse pasture and a gorgeous open fields. The air was fresh and cool enough to drink. The sound of the rustling fields and the warm sun on my face was heaven. The trail led to the Nancy Russell Overlook which is another beautiful view of the Columbia River Gorge. Nancy Russell is credited with saving the lower gorge area from commercial development. The overlook reveals miles of green land that would have been sectioned into off into subdivisions. Nancy and her husband provided a loan to the Public Land Trust to purchase 12 out of the 16 subdivisions.Because of this the land remained untouched and has been preserved ever since. 
