PORTLAND, OREGON

Well that was yet another fabulous journey with Amtrak, the trains might be slow but we have time on our side & you get the chance to enjoy not only the scenery but to meet & chat with fellow travellers. The train went over the Cascade Mountains & followed for some distance the Willimette River, there was plenty of snow in the mountains & water in the river.

Our backpacks 'exploded' !

Enjoying the train trip from the Sightseer lounge car,
through the Cascade Mountains

Our free day in Portland was spent following a 4T itinerary, (Train, Tram, Trail & Trolley) that we found appealing in a tourist brochure. It offered lots that we were interested in & included a four mile hike, so perfect! 

We got the feeling that it rarely dries
out round here! Moss & fern covered Douglas Fir

The 4T tour was very enjoyable, we caught the tram to Oregon Zoo (didn't visit though, been to plenty of zoos in our lives) then followed the signs along the walking trail. It was very wet & muddy (think that might be normal here) & there were even some mudslides that we had to negotiate our way through/round/over but the four mile forest walk was very beautiful with plenty of up hill & down dale. 

Vista from top of Council Crest, we could see Mt Saint Helens, but not sure
it's visible in the photos

Part way through we arrived at Council Crest, a hill top in the centre of the city from where we could see Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, but unfortunately not the other two volcanic peaks in the area that were further away, because it was a bit cloudy, lovely nevertheless.

One of the drier sections, walking between
the Douglas Fir trees

It was a very picturesque walk finishing up at the main city hospital.  The journey down from the top of the University Hospital Hill was done in a gondola which here they call an aerial tram, great views but I wasn't fussed on that two inch gap at the doorstep where you could see the sheer drop below. Once on the ground we caught a light rail train into the city going as far as the Art Gallery & outdoor sculpture park.

Panorama from the aerial tram



Sculpture Park, we thought this was driftwood until we touched it - bronze!

Walking on we arrived at some of the food carts for which Portland is quite famous. They are trailer type vans parked around the street-facing edges city parking stations. Well, the choices where amazing, you could have eaten anything you wanted, BBQ, southern, thai, vietnamese, burgers, chinese, you name it, it was there! We tried the pulled pork roll (I am told it is pork shoulder baked until it falls off the bone then it is basically pulled apart & mixed with a BBQ type gravy) yummy!!

An old factory now residential apartments
but loved the wooden water tank on the roof -
just like in 'Petticoat Junction'

Next stop was a Starbucks to warm up with a hot chocolate, it had gotten very cold & it was only 3pm. We then went on a hardware hunt, my bag had broken & we were in need of some zip-ties to make it serviceable for the rest of the trip. We found an OfficeMax store & the young lady there kindly gave us half a dozen from their storeroom because the only packs they had held about 100 or more. How nice of her?



Portland has hundreds of bike racks, in loads of individual designs,
like this one which looks a bit like the harbour bridge, even has cars on it!

As we wended our way back to the hotel we stopped in at the Lloyd Centre, a massive shopping mall, just for a look-see really.

Our first vista of the Columbia Gorge, the end of the Oregon Trail from the 1800s

We had pre-booked a tour to the Columbia Gorge which runs through the Cascade Mountains for the following morning so it was up early, cuppa, breakfast, shower, tidy room then downstairs by 7.30am for our pick-up. It was a small group of just four people (the bus had room for 10 but being winter numbers were down) which made it a very relaxed day with times that could be juggled a bit to suit. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the gorge, it geological history, its native american history & its development since Lewis & Clarke first walked through the area & it become a crucial link in the Oregon Trail from Missouri to the west coast.

Bridal Veil Falls, our guide took this shot,
so blame him if it's out of focus....



Multnomah Falls, two levels with large pond
inbetween - Grant is on that bridge

We went to waterfalls, stopped at scenic lookouts, drove along historic roads, passed by hydroelectric dams, saw rut lines created by wagons over 200 years ago, really interesting. We also had a two hour stopover at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Centre, which was just wonderful, could really have spent all day there. It included the history of local towns & native inhabitants, the history of the park itself & a display about the Lewis & Clarke Expedition. Luckily for us they also had a wildlife person there with three different birds of prey & she held short demonstrations with the trained birds.

View back towards Portland from the Rowena Crest

Just had to include this great shot of the roadway we used

It was well after dark by the time we got back to the hotel, fortunately we had bought salad boxes for our dinner that night realising we would be back late & tired, so it was a simple dinner, bit of TV & hit the sack, ready to travel to Seattle the next morning....early again!