I’ve been documenting the sights along the trail near our house, mostly flowers. I think it’s mostly for my own entertainment, otherwise I can’t guess why I take so many photos. In any case, I am left with so many photos. Today I will post my collection from May and June, as I walk along the same trail.
Fanno Creek Trail is vast and can be used in conjunction with other trails, such as the nearby Tigard Heritage Trail that was a former railroad spur. This trail has art and history installations along its length, and a couple of murals that I like:
I could fill a whole post with stuff from the Heritage Trail, so I’ll do that some other time.
Pedro and I discovered that it is a 1.7 mile (2.7 km) walk from our front door to a brewpub that we like, called Cooper Mountain Aleworks, which is pretty cool because our favourite nearby trail is the Cooper Mountain Nature Park. So on occasion, after work we will walk the Fanno Creek Trail to the pub, have a pint, then walk home.
The main point that I missed is that the Fanno Creek Trail takes us directly to downtown Tigard, which is pretty neat. There is interesting street art there, and some shops and restaurants. Recently we all went to one called Senet Game Bar, which is a game restaurant/bar. You come in, grab from among 200 board games or card games, and take the game to your seat and play while you eat and drink. We found that messy, so we stopped playing, ate, then played again. Under 21s are allowed to stay there till 8 pm.
There is a bad spot in the trail to Tigard. It stops abruptly. There is park green space for a trail, but it is bisected by Fanno Creek itself and marshy area, so no trail had even been attempted. We have learned to pick our way through neighborhoods without sidewalks to the place where the trail begins again. I looked up the spot on Google Earth and saw that there really should be a trail through. And voila! The gods answered my prayers.
I checked out their website and it appears that the final version will be 15 miles of trail. To be honest with you, most of those miles are already in use; it’s a very long trail. The work from Tiedeman to Grant streets is going veeerrrrryy slowly. But! Every single time I pass, there are workers at work. It is going to be done some day. I’m so very pleased. Look at what’s going on at the other side:
How fun that our city works this hard on a trail, right? I feel lucky to live here. I also have hope that the city has upgrade plans in a different part of the Fanno Creek Trail, where the paved trail looks awesome, it’s just that it’s under water.
Though I love the idea that this is a hot spot for bird watchers, I do have a fantasy that it will be next on the list of projects after the other spot is finished. I would like to be able to walk through with dry shoes for at least 10 months of the year. I mean, I don’t need perfection, just improvement.
What was blooming in June you ask? Well, ok, I doubt you asked. But I am going to show you anyway.
Thank you for coming along on a long walk with me! This is where I spend a lot of hours, especially now that I am training for the Portland to Coast race in August. Pedro comes with me often on this trail. His boys, Liam and Andre come too. Liam is usually on a skateboard. Along this trail we have found a ballfield that a group of families and friends used all winter for a Cricket field. Neither of us know the game and we are thinking about asking them if they mind us hanging on the side and watching.
Conscious Engagement 
A great walk and photos Crystal. I love flowers and your photos are superb. Any trail that leads to a pub is fine with me. I am glad you and Pedro are allowed to stay at the pub until 8pm 😁
ha ha!! I’m glad you recognized that we are still kids. 🙂
Looks like quite the lovely walk I’d have a hard time not getting tons of pictures. And to find a pub at the end of the walk could be the icing on the cake. The street work looks almost like it could be more metro link but I’m sure it’s not. Strange way to do road work.
It’s especially nice that the trail is so very long. You can choose any length of walk, depending on your desires for the day. 🙂 The construction work is a connector trail! Right now, there is a section where we have to leave the trail, and walk on streets, then pick up the trail again later. But when all that heavy duty construction is done, we will not have to leave the trail. My guess for the bridge of concrete and steel I-beams is because there is a creek and a marsh beneath. City trail designers want to allow for that area to flood all winter, and not ruin the trail.
Makes sense to me.
An enticing trail with some wonderful artwork – not the least your photographs
Ah, well played Derrick. 😉
It’s neat when cities and counties focus on building urban trails, Crystal, and yours looks like a beauty. Plus it takes you and Pedro to a pub! Hard to beat that. Fun photos. Show as many flowers as you want! When I lived in Sacramento, the city and county had the American River Bike Trail (Peggy’s sister Jane who passed away a year ago has an oak grove named after her along it) that I commuted to work on my bicycle over for 10 miles each way for a few years. What a great way to start and end a day.
Because of your comment, I looked up Jane Hagedorn. I found a photo of her and Peggy in an online remembrance, which was pretty cool. I am sure you mentioned her passing, but it has still been very recently. Let me express my sympathy to Peggy and you at the loss of her sister, who seems to have been a truly good person and an asset to this world. I’m glad there is a grove of oaks that carry her name.
Commuting to work 10 miles on a trail every day sounds wonderful.
Jane is missed in Sacramento. That’s for sure. She and I were co-execs of the Lung Association there for a while. We fought lots of environmental and anti-tobacco battles together.
The parkway was my go-to get-a-way spot in Sacramento for 30 years!
It does look very nice. Did I misunderstand or did you sell your house to buy another?
Hi Brian, thanks for coming along. Pedro and I each sold our own homes last year and moved into this new house together. We have lived here less than a year, so we are still learning the area.
All right. Makes sense. Glad you could make all three moves. The real estate market often works all against you.