Hillsdale to the River

On November 23, we did another walk from our Metro Walk There! book: Hillsdale to the River. We started by driving to Wilson High School in Hillsdale. There, we nearly turned back because the wind was so cold! Fortunately, the sun was out in full force, so we continued onward.

This is a view of Mount Hood from our drive east to Hillsdale.

Walking around Hillsdale: Burlingame Avenue area.

Terwilliger was closed due to recent landslide activity. Made crossing it a lot less scary. :)

These SW walks always end up using parts of the SW Trails system. Here, we're entering George Himes Park.

Pretty, fall leaf covered trails. And sunshine!

That's a big leaf.

David all bundled up.

After coming out of the park, we crossed under Barbur Boulevard and I-5, and headed down a few staircases into the valley by the river.

The area by the river -- Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill neighborhood (and that information was hard to find!) -- was slightly funky with gorgeous views. The crazy thing about this area is how difficult it is to access via car. Walking allowed us to take a more direct route in. To drive in, you have to go significantly further north or south.

View of Mount Hood.

Like I said, a nice slightly-funky walking neighborhood.

We stopped at Cafe Du Berry at the corner of SW Macadam for lunch.

I had a vegetable frittata which tasted better than this looks. The hashbrowns were good too, but the bread was weird.

The picture I took of the restaurant right before we realized David's scarf was gone.

Our walk was arrested for a while as we searched the restaurant, and then retraced our steps to the flight of stairs we came down, looking for David's scarf. Not the first time it's slipped off and gotten lost.

Our search was fruitless. We trudged on.

Willamette Park.

Birds and boats on the Willamette River.

Mount Hood peeking up behind the trees.

Late autumn sunlight in Willamette Park.

A fat squirrel gathering nuts.

We left the park just before reaching the Butterfly Park, which I'm interested in returning to, perhaps at a different time of year. We found ourselves in a unique neighborhood, with lots of staircases and splendid mountain views.

See the street sign? This is SW Custer Street. It's a staircase. Reminds me of Prizzi, Sicily.

I'm not sure if this is Mount Adams or Mount St. Helens.

I don't ever get tired of taking pictures of Mount Hood.

Enjoying the sunshine on an overpass over I-5.

I-5 Northbound has lovely mountain views as well.

See? :)

That was a long walk!