Wednesday, March 18, 2015

River Walk












I never thought I'd appreciate living on a river as much as I do. When Ben and I moved from Tacoma, we were so sad to leave the expansive Puget Sound with its islands, gorgeous water, and wildlife (starfish and seals and herons). Living in Tacoma felt like we living on the ocean, instead of about two hours inland. Looking at the little Willamette River flowing North (it's one of the only rivers that flows South to North), it didn't seem like it could match up to that glittering blue sea of water that we lived on.

But slowly and surely, this green-hued river has grown on me. It means that we live near many a wetland and the river is always populated with birds that we normally find only when exploring wetland or wildlife refuges. In the past 1.5 years that Ben and I have lived in Portland, I have walked to work almost every single day and walked into the city on weekends. I've seen ducklings and goslings grow up in the Spring. I've seen the river recede and then rise after a heavy rain. I've seen the river covered in fog, glittering on a beautiful spring day, and populated with boats and wake-boarders in summer, and the edges of it covered in ice and snow in the winter. In the recent months I've seen a sea lion coming down the river for salmon and river otters playing amongst the boats at the marina. 

Portland is also so walkable and so dotted with bridges that there are some really accessible and fun walking loops that take you along the East and West bank of the river. One of our favorite loops to do (and a popular biking, running, strolling, jogging path) is starting down on the West bank at the Hawthorn Bridge, crossing the river to the East bank, walking about a mile up to the Steel Bridge, crossing back to the West side and walking another mile back down. The entire loop is about 3.5 miles and gives you a great look at cormorants, heron, mallards, Canada geese, and all of the even more interesting Portlanders strolling about.

12 comments

  1. Woah!! Such a beautiful photos and views on them are breathtaking!!

    I always need to live nearby water element, would it be a river, sea, lake... I don't care,

    as long as I can live nearby I'm happy. It's my soul uplifter! :)

    http://lartoffashion.blogspot.com

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  2. I get a kick out of the padlocks on the fence. A cute idea, although it never would've occurred to me. I would've been like, "you're just leaving it there? why? it's a perfectly good lock!"


    LOL!

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  3. When I worked downtown, I used to walk the loop around the river at least once a week--sometimes every day in a week. It is one of the few things I miss about working (the other one being my MAX commute, which gave me 45 minutes of reading time twice a day. That should say something about my job that the only things I miss are my commute and what I did at lunch time!)

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  4. I have never walked by those padlocks!

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  5. I love that loop too! I have a vivid memory of taking Peeper on that route when she was super little. I met up with 3 other moms who'd had babies within a week, and it felt great to get outside and connect with other new mamas!

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  6. It is so gorgeous there! I want come and take a walk! :)

    http://www.kaciesklosetblog.com/

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  7. You really captured the beauty of Portland in your photos! I worked downtown for 7 years and rarely did I appreciate the beauty during my hectic commute. Now when I go downtown I really try to appreciate the scenery and the representation of city life in the center of a beautiful landscape.

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  8. Beautiful photos! And, shoot, now I *need* to go walk across some bridges...

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  9. You're very lucky to live by the river! I lived on campus at PSU for a few years, and I loved walking along the waterfront. There were so many people to watch, there were always events happening, and the river is so expansive and serene that it can calm even the most chaotic mind. I'm also so glad to see the spring blossoms. I've missed seeing colors in the trees!

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  10. Beautiful images! The cherry blossoms lining the waterfront always take my breath away. You captured the essence of this area so perfectly!

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  11. it would be helpful if you said what colors you used.

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  12. Awesome Post! Great images

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