Pedro and I found a beautiful trail just 12 minutes drive from our house! We are so happy to find it. It’s the Cooper Mountain Nature Park and it was absolutely perfect this weekend when we had unseasonably warm temperatures and no rain. What?! Yes, the weather was amazing. Mother Nature was saying sorry for the awful ice storm, I guess.
Our only complaint: not enough parking + self-absorbed drivers. For a great big park, there are definitely not enough parking spaces. There are 39 spaces, plus 2 handicap spaces, which maybe sounds like enough, but it’s really not. There is a gravel overflow parking lot with 14 spaces. On a beautiful Saturday, we needed 100 spaces. No worries. I mean, we were there to hike, so parking a distance away and walking over was fine, except that it took us a long time to maneuver through the parking area and get back out. Multiple other drivers simply blocked the route, waiting for a space to open up, oblivious to being an obstacle to anyone behind them. I managed, somehow, to get through the maze. I pulled into the overflow parking and was followed by a guy, who, on seeing my reverse lights, immediately stopped and waited, thinking that I was about to vacate a space. My plan had been to back out, but since he couldn’t figure out what was going on, I ended up doing an 8-point turn to turn around and get out. Once I passed the guy and he saw that I had not left a space for him to pull into, he was so disappointed. I saw it on his face as I left the area. Ha! Serves you right dude.
Everything else was SO great. Mostly just that the trail was in great condition, there was no crowding, there was an awesome hill to get a workout, and it was just so, so, so beautiful there.
The address is Beaverton, but it’s outside of town and on top of a hill. The trailhead starts at the top of the hill, with outstanding views, and is exhilaratingly all downhill for a long time. But …it’s a loop, so just be forewarned that the end of the hike is a pretty solid uphill climb. Pedro and I loved it. I’m going to do some of my speedwalk training here because the hills are awesome.
We passed a few families doing the whole loop. If you walk the whole thing, you can get a 3-3.5 mile loop.
There were dogs and kids and smiles. I think I could feel peace stealing over the walkers and runners and skippers there. Most people were eager to make eye contact and say hello. It reminded Pedro and me of being on a trail in the alps in Slovenia and exchanging “dobro jutro” or “dobra dan*” with every single person we passed. We are starting to relax after that awful ice storm and temperatures below freezing for so many days. Shoulders are beginning to drop, and chins to lift.
It was so perfect that I’m still glowing and our hike was yesterday. I think I’ll be able to face the rest of the winter now.
*(apparently it’s supposed to be dober dan, but that’s not what we heard)
Conscious Engagement 
A lucky find. Can’t wait to to see the other seasons there 🙂
You and me both! (…and thanks for the motivation to get my butt out there in the future)
An excellent discovery
Agreed. I was still riding high the next day and realizing how great it felt to get exercise outside on Saturday, worked for hours in my new back yard Sunday before the rains set in again. Learning a new (and big) garden is a bit overwhelming, but I will just keep doing little bits, and looking at other peoples’ gardens for inspiration.
It’s lovely in spring and fall, and a good hike in summer on a cool day too. How lucky you live so close. I love the views. And you are so right, a hike is exactly the right antidote to our frozen week. I walked along the Willamette yesterday and felt better with every step.
Also, no problem parking mid-week… 🙂
(that’s one of my favourite things about being retired: I can hit the popular spots mid-week) 🙂
Your experience was so stressful that I’m sure you are finding peace in gradual stages. I’m glad you got out on the river. I met a woman in the Post Office yesterday who insisted that we need to explore Cook Park next. Have you been to that one? It is also close to us but we don’t often go toward Tualatin or Bridgeport.
Yes, it’s flat and meanders through sports fields and rr tracks. Not as wild as Cooper Mt. There’s an interesting part along the river that’s pretty. I highly recommend Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, especially when the seasonal trail is open (still cool the rest of the year). Also Tualatin Hills Nature Park.
Pedro’s favourite jogging trails are at the Tualatin Hills Nature Park, and you are right, that’s a good one. Thanks for the recommendation to the NWR too, because I don’t think we’ve done that one.
It does look beautiful, Crystal. I was thinking I bet it will be beautiful in spring when I came to your comment “swimming in green this spring.” I missed the ice storm… Did you do a post on it?
The only ice stuff I posted were some photos. That’s where you learned that I had lived in Vermont. Since Pedro and I were home and safe, with electricity, and no reason at all to leave the house for 10 days till it melted, I had no traumatic story to tell. But Portland was somewhat devastated when we received four inches of snow, which was then caked in ice from two freezing rain storms, then a week of below zero temperatures. There are people just now getting their power back and people whose homes and cars were smashed beneath trees, and people who died from the storm. It was pretty bad.
What’s happening weather-wise, is absolutely mind shattering, Crystal. And yet, at a time when the world should be uniting to deal with the crisis… Words fail me.
There seems to be no way anyone on the planet can keep using coincidence as a reason not to take it seriously, you know? And yet…
…Banning books somehow seems more important. Lots of things would fit in to the fill in the blanks.
Here is one blogger’s story about it: https://riversandroadspdx.com/2024/01/24/frozen/
Wow, I don’t know how I missed that Crystal. It seems like every day there is another example of extreme weather.
I’m late with a reply. As usual. It does look beautiful. Glad you were able to relax after the parking space hunt. People are very odd about pursuing parking spaces. You should have mail tomorrow. Hugs.
Hi Marlene! You were on my mind so much yesterday, as I began writing out my itinerary. I’ll send an email and let you know the specifics that I have, so we can plan our time together right. Mail tomorrow! Yay!