Our Oregon Trails: Forest Park

We're doing as many free things as we can while we job search. This week, we made an excursion out to Forest Park and it was gorgeous. THIS is what I came to Oregon for!

Forest Park is literally what it's name says it is. According to their conservancy website, in 1903 the same guys that designed Central Park in NYC suggested that the densely wooded hills in NW Portland be conserved as a forest park. It's a long and winding drive to get there but it was like we had stepped in a portal and come out before the Pacific Northwest had been settled (ignoring the paved road and my car, of course). The park is 7 miles long and has trails throughout, ranging from "easy" to "hard."

We took the dogs with us to wear them out and chose an "easy" 3 mile walk. We often walk about that far on our long walks and I figured the dogs could handle it and they would be exhausted when we finished. I was partially right.

The first part of the trail was just a dirt footpath. We were immersed in greens and browns and everything

was silent, except my bug fan. I imagined traveling with Lewis and Clark or being one of the people who settled the area before they tore down the forests. I would have been terrified to walk through these woods, not knowing what was hiding. Without the walking path, the area had steep hills, vegetation that was at least as tall as my knees, and tree branches crisscrossing each other. I loved the natural beauty but I wouldn't want to walk through without a path. I'd twist my ankle or be impaled by a deer I should have seen. The smell reminded me of the rain forest exhibit at the Sedgwick County Zoo but less moist. It was refreshing to breath in the crisp cool air. It also reminded me of forests during the dinosaurs reign. It must have been too cold in this one to have sustained them but there were ferns everywhere. Any time I see a fern I think of fossilized patterns of fern leaves and, therefore, dinosaurs. Brandt also commented that one of areas dense in ferns reminded him of Jurassic Park.

Ellie absolutely loved the walk. Even though she's the most reserved, she's also the most instinctive. I've seen her flush birds at a dog park in Wichita and she has a strong hunting desire if she sees anything small on walks. She even killed a mouse in our house a few years ago. She loves to explore and roll in everything. She went crazy on the first part of the walk! She was sniffing everything, rubbing on whatever she could, and her tail was wagging constantly. She had a very difficult time staying on the path.

Eventually, our trail ended and met with a paved trail. There were steep hills on our left and often a sheer drop to our right. After that trail, we headed back to the car on another footpath.

Brandt taking a picture and
Cedric waiting patiently.

Brandt has Cedric trained fairly well during walks. Cedric doesn't like other dogs when he's leashed though. Go
figure, since he's the only one that enjoys dog parks and is the most social little thing I've ever seen. We encountered very few dogs on our trail so Cedric wasn't a huge issue. The girls, however, were almost left behind to fend for themselves. They're cute enough and I'm sure someone would have taken them home. Ellie was on the hunt constantly and tried to run and kill anything that rustled the leaves. Sparrow is an instigator and was barking at everything and tugging her lead. I think she was upset most of the walk and didn't like the strange new place with its unique and new smells.

The last part of the trail included a long steep hill. We had to stop part of the way up because I forgot my inhaler and couldn't' breath. A quick drink of water solved the problem. Sparrow was having a pretty rough time on the hill too and I thought she might drop dead on the spot. Poor thing has such a short snout and has a hard time breathing any way.

All three dogs fell asleep immediately when we got in the car. It was hard to get the girls to move once we got back to the apartment as well. We were successful in exhausting them but my patience was also exhausted. I have now officially enlisted Brandt's help as the Dog Whisperer's protege, or so I call him, and I'm going to make both girls behave during walks. I enjoyed letting them sniff around and explore but they're starting to become more than I can handle.

We plan to go back to Forest Park and hike on our own. I'd like to take a path that's longer than 3 miles next time. The park boasts the tallest tree within a city and mushrooms as big as dinner plates. I'd definitely like to see those! Going without the dogs will allow us to walk together and take more time to absorb the natural wonders around us.