13-mile loop

Sunday I drove over to Oaks Park at the east end of the Sellwood Bridge and started walking. I was feeling pretty good, so I made it all the way to the Steel Bridge before turning back to the south. After crossing the Steel into downtown, I made a brief stop for a slice of Rovente’s pizza (this is a little dive that produces something that I swear must be shipped in from Brooklyn… even the grease drips off it properly) then walked up the park blocks and headed for Terwilliger. (After a brief detour trying to figure out the most direct way up to Terwilliger from the Duniway Park track.)

A blister hit the ball of my left foot along the windy Terwilliger Road path, then the ball and heel of my right foot. Nothing I couldn’t walk on, though. And my knee and shin felt great! I was a little anxious that I wouldn’t be able to find the path that was supposed to go under I-5 and Barbur Boulevard to get back to the river — I’d never walked it before, only read about it. It’s a wooded trail down through George Himes park, and, as a public service, here is a closeup view of the route:

The trail goes straight downhill alongside a small creek. It’s marked at the top with a “40-mile loop” sign. There’s one intersection; take the steep path down to the left. It passes under an interesting bridge (Barbur) and dull bridge (I-5) then steeply down a bunch of railroad-tie steps until it come out on Iowa Street. From there, you are on sidewalks through the John’s landing neighborhood until you reach Willamette Park, but the route is well marked with “SW Trail #3″ signs on the street.

I’m proud of my 13-mile walk; I was walking 15-minute miles most of the way and I’m thrilled to have more muscle soreness than joint or tendon pain this morning. After the walk, I went to a MiPL Scrabble happy hour; that was a whole lot of fun too. What a great weekend!