Trees!!!! Big Trees!!!!! And LOT'S of them!!!!!!!
Washington Park is a 400 acre park located just outside downtown Portland. The transition from downtown buildings and living to the green filled hills is abrupt (and awesome). The arboretum (tree place) is buried deep within the park. It sprawls over 147 acres, has 21 trails stretching over 12 miles, and features more than 8,000 individual trees. Plants from every continent are represented in Portland!
We visited the Arboretum and set out on the 4 mile trail that loops around the collection. The arboretum is arranged by family, and the hike winds us through the entire collection. Conifers, Redwoods, Oaks lead off our hike, and we plan on following our way to the Maples and the Bamboo. We continue along on the trail we started out on, the Wildwood trail, and wind up and down hills, past the Pittock Mansion, descending down to a road and a 3 1/2 mile marker and a trail map. We stop to gaze at the map, just to check our bearings, and come to find ourselves now in Forest Park. Instead of walking 3 1/2 miles in a loop, we traveled 3 1/2 miles straight north, and Megan had to be back for work in a couple hours...oops. We double back, and manage to make it back to the car in time for Megan to get ready, but we missed out on the second half of park.
We had thought Wildwood was the 4 mile loop around the arboretum. Turns out Wildwood is a 40 mile loop that goes around all of Portland! It just happens to run through the arboretum for a short time...oh well. We didn't get to see the whole arboretum, but the hike was great anyway. It just gives us an excuse to return to the arboretum, plus it keeps up with Megan and I's tradition of getting lost on hikes!
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