Journalist By Nature: Miniature Marshall Park

Trillium

Boasting over 14,000 acres of designated parks, Portland shares third place with Boston and San Francisco in ParkScore's ranking of the largest U.S. cities' park space. Over 34% of Portland's residents live within one half mile of a park! Our extensive 5000 acre Forest Park is one of the country's largest urban forest reserves, but the remaining 9,000 acres of park space are scattered liberally throughout the metro area. Visiting Marshall Park in the southwest section of the city was like stepping briefly into the National Forests of our Cascade Mountain region.

Ancient Douglas firs in their crusty bark, drooping Western red
cedars, boulder-channeled streams, wild flowers and charming bird calls embraced us the moment we set foot on the trail. Ahhh, the soft needle-padded surface of the footpath was such a sweet break from our customary winter cement walkways. The fragrant smell of damp cedar drew us deeper into this small forest. We followed moss-covered split rail fencing down into the ravine the divides this 25 acre park. Pure white trilliums bloomed in giant statements that spring had (almost) officially arrived.

A devoted neighborhood association had obviously been hard at work in an attempt to rid a portion of the park of the invasive, non-native English ivy that coats the ground, any vertical structure and eventually topples even the stoutest trees. Dried remnants of formerly vigorous growth hung brown and lifeless around tree trunks. However, the aggressive plant maintains a foothold virtually everywhere in the city and is sold in nurseries even as it is fought in the parks. Who can explain it?

Leaving the peaceful park setting we continued our nearly five mile walk into the older neighborhoods around Terwilliger Boulevard and Taylors Ferry Road, taking a tour of a modern home under construction, stopping to peruse the sidewalk take-one-leave-one library stand and admiring the quirkiness of people's yard decor.

Our route took us through the Ahavai Sholom Jewish Cemetery and a portion of the immense Riverview Cemetery where a study of the grave markers revealed some interesting perspectives on life from the dearly departed. Stopping at the crematorium we saw that one's ashes can be shelved in a book-like container in their "library" niches. Tidy effect.

Lunch for the rumbling stomaches was provided at Chez Jose. Wondering if this was a trendy fusion of French and Mexican fare, we were seated in a dim cavern and devoured warm chips with salsas while checking out the menu. No fusion here; just plentiful and inventive takes on beans, rice and tortilla-based rollups. Half the meal went into take-out boxes. We called it a day after a lively discussion about good reads and movies. Phone notepads filled quickly with all the great recommendations. We were in one accord that this city hill hike was one of the best this year and look forward to much longer forest treks in the near future. Our early spring is a boon to trail time so pack your ten essentials and head for the hills!