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| Selfie from NW Leif Erikson Road |
Getting There
This was a first, taking the bus to get to Forest Park to hike. My car needs to go to the shop so I don't want to risk making the problem worse by driving it.
From Kenton, I took the #4 bus from the park to St Johns. The Trip Planner showed a short waiting time for my connecting bus but when I got there it was updated to almost 50 mins. I went to Safeway and got a sandwich.
I hopped on the #16 bus to Sauvie Island and got off at NW Marina Drive on Hwy 30 (NW St Helens Road).
It was short walk to the bottom of the BPA Road.
The Hike
Elev. gain: 1,998 ft
Moving time: 4:08:34
Avg pace: 21:30
Calories: 2,504
Total time: 4:26:08
This was a variation on my usual conditioning loop from the Skyline Trailhead. Instead, I was starting with the steep climb up BPA Road, approx. 850 ft of climb in less than a mile. I continued onward on my route to just past the Kielhorn Meadow.
I turned around and retraced my route to the Wildwood Trail junction and gave my regards to Benjamin George Collins' bench.
When I got the the Newton Road junction, I continued to the trailhead parking lot as I usually do but decided to keep heading south to Germantown Road instead of going down Newton Road to the trailhead where I started. I wasn't ready to end my hike just yet.
This was unknown territory but a welcome change to my usual loop.
I crossed Germantown Road and took the Cannon Trail connector to NW Leif Erikson Road. There was no way I was walking on the road and it was pretty nice.
When I got to Leif Erikson, I found it was flat gravel road that wound through the trees. I wasn't sure how long with its twists and turns but I forged ahead. I stopped to check the map several times to make sure I hadn't missed my turn.
I noted a side trail (Hardesty Trail) for future exploration.
Eventually, I made it to the Ridge Trail that ran east to west and took it down to the St Johns Bridge.
I was stoked to not have to find a stop for the #16 bus and wait for an unknown period of time. My feet were sore and the vehicle noise was pretty loud but I knew I just had to get across to St Johns and I could get the #4 bus back home.
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| View of the Willamette, Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens, and Mt Adams |
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| View from the bridge |
