Afoot and Afield: Portland/Vancouver. Douglas Lorain

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      Preface

      Outdoor lovers in the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area are among the most fortunate in the country. Within a one-hour drive from their homes, they can hit the trail through dense old-growth forests, walk beside spectacular waterfalls, climb to viewpoints above massive glaciers, explore wetlands that are home to waterfowl and bald eagles, traipse through wildflower-covered meadows, or wander through the quiet forests of a 5000-acre park right in the city of Portland. Few other cities in the country have such a wide assortment of opportunities.

      My goal in writing this book was to provide the first comprehensive guide to every worthwhile walk of at least 1 mile, on still-wild public lands, and accessible by a drive of an hour or less from Portland. The one-hour driving time is from somewhere in the major cities and suburbs of the greater Portland/Vancouver area. That does not mean that every drive will be less than one hour for every resident. If you live in Hillsboro, it may take you up to 45 minutes just to get to Gresham, on the other side of the metropolitan area, before you start the one-hour drive to Mt. Hood. Nonetheless, every trip has a short enough drive time to qualify as a good spur-of-the-moment adventure.

      The hikes range in difficulty from simple strolls through urban preserves to rugged climbs in the Columbia River Gorge and on glacier-clad Mt. Hood. There are paths here familiar to every Portland hiker as well as dozens of new routes never covered in any guidebook. They have in common a convenient proximity to Portland and a wild character that allows city residents to “get away from it all.”

      A large percentage of these hikes are open year-round. So this guide also serves as a winter hikes manual. The northwest’s notoriously soggy winters often make trails muddy. With waterproof boots and the proper attitude, however, hikers can enjoy many fine trails all year.

      Many worthwhile urban and semi-urban walks have been excluded because they don’t qualify as “wild.” If you are looking for a quick leg-stretcher, and don’t mind a landscape that features manicured lawns or picnic tables, then try any of the many easy hikes in city parks and greenways. Often these routes follow paved trails that hikers share with joggers and bicyclists. Among the best of these options are the Fanno Creek Greenway in Beaverton, the Fernhill wetlands in Forest Grove, the network of trails around Washington Park’s arboretum, the quiet trails on the campus of Reed College, the riverside paths in Willamette Park and Oaks Bottom, several new trails in the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, the rapidly expanding collection of paths on Gresham Butte, and the Salmon Creek Greenway in Clark County.

      Trails that do not qualify as “wild” also include pleasant routes that feature wild scenery but are located near major roads or go through and around golf courses, such as those at Skamania Lodge or at Glendoveer and Rose City golf clubs.

      I have hiked every trip in this book at least once and most of them several times. However, roads and trails do constantly change. New routes are built, old trails cease to be maintained or are simply abandoned, and floods and landslides obliterate some routes. Your comments on recent developments or changes are welcome. Please write to me in care of Wilderness Press at mail@ wildernesspress.com.

      The Second Edition & Its 60 New Hikes

      It is time, all you enthusiastic hikers out there, for the much anticipated second edition of Afoot & Afield Portland/Vancouver. Those familiar with the first edition will find several changes and significant improvements. First of all, every map has been redone, updated, and significantly improved to be more user friendly. Most trips now have their own map while others are shown on a map with other nearby trails, and many more landmarks and details are shown to help visitors follow the trail. In addition, the organizational format and numbering system has been streamlined to make it much easier for you to find hikes in the area you are interested in visiting.

      Easily the most important feature of the second edition, however, is that it includes 60 brand-new adventures to spectacular destinations in every corner of our region, almost all of which come with the bonus of solitude being a virtual certainty. Every Portland/Vancouver area outdoor lover, no matter how many years they have been hiking local trails, is guaranteed to find numerous great hikes that they have never taken and probably didn’t even know existed. Among these new hikes are trips to a truly superb waterfall on remote North Siouxon Creek in Southwest Washington, several trails exploring the sunny and flower-covered slopes of the eastern Columbia River Gorge, a hike to a virtually unknown clifftop viewpoint in the Clackamas River country that will absolutely blow your (hiking) socks off, details on how to find a new trail up previously closed Fish Creek Mountain, paths leading to remote and beautiful fishing spots in the almost unknown canyons of Roaring River and South fork Clackamas River, descriptions of little-traveled routes in usually crowded areas like Silver Falls and Oxbow parks, several newly constructed trails in the Coast Range’s Clatsop State Forest, and literally dozens more. In addition, every hike from the first edition of the book has been updated, and 10 of them have undergone major revisions due to trailheads being relocated and/or the trails themselves being completely rerouted.

      With all these additions, the book now describes nearly 200 hikes within an hour’s drive of the city, so it is safe to say that nothing has been excluded. The goal was to include absolutely every local “wild” trail, making this book the comprehensive “bible” for all nearby hikes. You no longer have to own several different books or check several different sources to find a suitable trail or a description of a particular route you want to hike. If you can’t find it here, it either doesn’t exist or isn’t legally accessible. So, get out those hiking boots and hit the trails, my fellow pedestrians. You are fortunate enough to live in a city with almost unlimited options for enjoying your favorite activity in beautiful surroundings. And you now own a guide that details every one of those options. The outdoors is yours to explore and savor. See you on the trails!

      Introducing the Portland/Vancouver СКАЧАТЬ