Tualatin Hills Nature Park

Near our apartment is the Tualatin Hills Nature Park, with lots of walking/biking trails. I love how we can drive 5-10 minutes in one direction, and we're at Cedar Hills Crossing, with Powell's, restaurants, and a movie theatre, and we can drive 5-10 minutes in the other direction and get lost in nature. Last Friday, I went for a stroll.

It's very quiet in here. Just birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and insects making their small noises. I'm looking forward to returning in the winter and experiencing the rain in the forest.

These boardwalks reminded me of playing Myst. Is that sad?

The lily pond in summer is entirely dry. Apparently, in the winter this will be a full lake, with lilies floating above. I'll have to go back to check. This area had a ton of tiny birds darting around in the trees. I stayed and watched for a while, until a scary-looking wasp made me decide to keep moving. On my way back, a small snake whipped across the path in front of me, too quickly for me to get a picture. I'm theorizing it was a garter snake of some kind.

I thought it was neat how these small plants had taken root on the cut edge of this log.