6.5 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
My first hike of 2012 and, while I wasn't able to make it out of town or do a "loony" hike, it was a great morning for a stroll through some of Portland's trail system.
I did the Marquam Trail to Council Crest Out-and-Back for breakfast this morning (started around 7am), except I did it backward. I got dropped off below Council Crest where Talbot turns into Talbot Terrace (and wends up toward the Crest beyond the intersection), climbed up the short trail (kinda creepy in the dark, even more so than in the middle of the woods on the PCT) that slopes up to the Crest and made ready for the trip from there.
I didn't really get any pictures from the morning because my good camera-phone was being used for dedicated GPS (to save on battery) and my secondary camera-phone is only 3MP and has a permanent black spot in the photos. It was a beautiful morning though, the mists didn't last long before the sun came out and burned it up.
I don't know my "official" distance traveled or elevation gain as I'm still working on the GPS export (I dunno what to open the files in afterward yet and I think my GPS data is skewed) but it should be something close to the 5.8mi and 1100ft elevation gain as described @ http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/MarquamTrailtoCouncilCrest_Hike
I did find a handy trail map in one of the plastic boxes that are found at most (or all) of the spots where the Marquam Trail crosses a street - as well as at the Marquam Shelter - so I managed to stay on the right trail (mostly) the whole time. On the way down from Council Crest I did take the trail that leads to the Marquam Shelter (because I didn't know better lol) but I figured out on the way back that I didn't need to take that way, thanks to the map I picked up from the Shelter (I don't like the gravel hill that you march up from the shelter, the "real" Marquam Trail is much nicer than the "Marquam Shelter Trail").
So, a pretty tame hike but that's probably what I needed. I went out on the Marquam Trail on 12/30/11 but it was soupy out, I didn't configure my smartphone properly for GPS, I took a wrong turn and ended up at OHSU and I don't have good outer layers for prolonged rain exposure. This time was much better and I had a great morning.
I'll probably be hiking there all winter or until I get some wet/snow gear =D. Next time I go out, I'll try to get some pictures. There are some nice views when it's clear and some neat foggy areas when it's not.
