My partner, John, and I have been trying to go to Portland, OR for some time now. For one reason or another, it has been delayed a few times now. We finally got to go in June of 2009.

We have a good friend that lived in Portland for some time and she loved it there, so we had very high expectations. I have also read quite a bit about the city and it is often characterized as one of the best cities in the US to live in, play in and visit. We stayed a total of 6 days, though with traveling to and fro, we actually had 5 days in the city.

This trip turned out to be challenging in terms of picture taking. I really enjoy taking pictures of the things John and I see on our trips. I love natural beauty (such as the mountains or forests, or lakes, etc.). I also love rocky beaches. In addition, I am an architecture aficionado, so I like to take pictures of architecturally interesting buildings (from all styles of architecture) and bridges. On the first day of our trip, as we were preparing to leave for Mt Hood, I dropped my camera into water, rendering it completely unsable. Needless to say, I was very upset about it. I tried to dry it out with a hair dryer as best as I could, but it did not work. I was reduced to taking pictures of Mt Hood and the Columbia Gorge with my iPhone. It takes decent pictures, but they are no comparison to my other camera. Oh well. At least I was able to take some pictures.

Mt Hood

I am a major lover of the mountains. When we were in Seattle, we took a day trip out to Mt Rainier and the surrounding area. There are several major mountains near Portland, the highest being Mt Hood (at almost 12,000 feet), and probably the most well-known being Mt St Helens (which erupted in 1980). We decided to take a day trip out to Mt Hood, and combine that trip with a trip through the Columbia Gorge – the area carved out by the Columbia River.

Timberline Lodge

Mt Hood did not disappoint at all. We lucked out with some pretty spectacular weather and got some great, cloudless shots of the mountain all the way to the summit. We stopped at the Timberline Lodge. It is a privately owned lodge that was rescued from disrepair in the 1950’s. One of the things it is best known for is the fact that it was used as the setting for The Shining. I have never seen the movie, but apparently anyone who has would recognize the lodge. The lodge itself is quite beautiful and it is the gateway to skiing on Mt Hood. We were there in June, but there was plenty of snow, as well as plenty of people skiing down the slope right down to the lodge. It’s pretty cool to see people skiing in June.

After leaving Mt Hood itself, we drove through Mt Hood National Forest on our way to the Hood River Valley and then the Columbia Gorge. We stopped at a place called the Gorge White House. It is a beautiful turn of the century building that is actually in use as a house. It is also a farm and a flower garden. You can go through and pick your own strawberries and flowers for purchase. Right behind it is the Mt Hood Winery and their vineyards. The setting is absolutely spectacular with the rolling hills on one side and Mt Hood in the near distance in the other direction.

We then drove back toward Portland through the Columbia Gorge. This is territory that was explored by Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition at the beginning of the 19th Century (along with their tour guide and his wife, Sacagawea). It is really impossible to describe how beautiful this area is. It is one of those places that you just have to see to get the full effect. The river has carved a deep gorge into the land for quite some distance (I think we were about 130 miles from the Pacific Ocean when we started heading west along the Columbia River). There are numerous dams and bridges over the Columbia, with Oregon on the south side and Washington on the north bank. This is must-see, even if you do nothing else in the area. Wow.

I should mention the good luck we had with our tour to Mt Hood and the Gorge. We were initially supposed to go with one company, but they did not have room for us. So they gave us the number of another tour operator – Martin Hecht of Martin’s Gorge Tours. When he came to pick us up at our hotel, I was expecting a small bus. What we got was a mini-van and a tour all to ourselves. Martin could not have been nicer or more accommodating. He knows his stuff and was a wonderful tour guide. But even better, because we were the only people on the tour, we were able to customize the trip to our liking. Anyone that is heading to the Portland area would be well advised to give Martin a call and use him for any days tours in the general area (we ended up hiring him to take us to the Oregon Coast as well – more on that later).

Beautiful Rose

On the next day, we made plans to go on a city tour of Portland. We like to do these whenever possible at the beginning of a trip to a new city so that we can get a feel for the city and a feel for what things we should go back to and visit in more detail. Unfortunately, the city tour was with another company and it was not the best tour (there were 4 other people on the tour and 1 of them in particular was very difficult and kept monopolizing the tour guide’s attention. Also our tour guide was very abrupt and surly. But we made the best of it.) There were plenty of things we got to see on this tour that we really enjoyed. One was the Pittock Mansion. It is about 1,000 feet above the downtown area and is quite beautiful. The grounds are stunning as well. We also stopped at the International Rose Test Garden. Oh my G-d. The roses apparently had all started blooming within the previous 2 – 3 weeks. They were spectacular. There were thousands of them, of all colors and types. Whites, Yellows, Reds, Oranges, Purples. Bushes and climbers. They were also some of the biggest roses I have ever seen. This setting is also very cool – above the city of Portland and giving spectacular views of the city and the distant mountains (on a clear day).

Pittock Mansion

We also got to drive around a lot of areas of town, including Old Town, Chinatown and the Pearl District. The trouble was that we were stuck inside the van and did not make any stops in the city after the Rose Test Garden. That really lowers the enjoyment of the tour. We did meet a lovely woman from Atlanta, so at least there was that.

Later, on our own, we went to the Classical Chinese Garden. This a walled garden that is one complete city block. Inside is a lake and weeping willows; a traditional tea house; a small art gallery; a bonsai garden and some great traditional style Chinese rooms. You almost cannot even hear the city from inside the garden. It was a definite highlight for us of our time in Portland. There is also a Traditional Japanese Garden, but we did not have the time to see it. Another time.

To be continued.

To see some of my photos of Portland, Mt Hood and the Oregon Coast, click here.