Best Easy Day Hikes Portland, Oregon

As we begin our seventh decade, my wife has discovered hiking trips as an adjunct to workouts at the gym. Woe is me; I'd rather just sit in a café patio under the trees and read a book. Is this the worse part of "for better or worse"? Lizann Dunegan's BEST EASY DAY HIKES: PORTLAND, OREGON (a.k.a. BEDH below) accompanied us on a long weekend getaway to Portland last August. It's a nifty little volume, and its relatively small format makes it amenable to inclusion in either the airplane carry-on or trail backpack, although that same diminutive size renders the maps somewhat problematic to those with failing eyesight. Perhaps one of those magnifying bookmarkers might prove useful (UltraOptix Handi-Lens Magnifier Bookmark). The volume describes twenty-eight hikes in and around Portland and off to the east along the south bank of the Columbia River Gorge. The longest is that looping around Hagg Lake (14.1 miles) and the shortest the roundtrip to and from Sherrard Point on Larch Mountain (0.5 mile). The book begins with an Introduction, which includes Weather, Clothing, Shoes and Socks, Backpacks, Day Hiking Checklist, Trail Regulations/Restrictions, Trail Contacts, and Zero Impact. The last item simply means not stripping the environment of interesting artifacts and not discarding your energy bar wrappers and plastic water bottles along the path. Each of "The Hikes" is comprised of Highlights, Distance, Approximate Hiking Time, Elevation Gain, Permits and Fees, Restrictions, Canine Compatibility, Maps (sources), Finding the Trailhead, The Hike (summary description), and Miles and Directions. The section for each hike is 3 to 5 pages long including map. There's no mention of "feline compatibility" if you want to take Fluffy. So, you may ask, how was the guide when it came to crunch time, i.e. putting boots on the ground? The hike we chose to trudge was the 6-mile roundtrip to the Warrior Rock Lighthouse (Hike #8) at the north end of Sauvie Island in the Columbia River. (Of course, this was after spending 90 minutes working out at the YMCA in Vancouver, WA. See what I have to put up with?!) The trailhead is about 25 road miles northwest of the Portland city center. The directions in BEDH proved to be clear, concise, and right on. After crossing over to the island and purchasing the day permit at Sam's Cracker Barrel Store, we drove the last 15.5 miles to the trailhead through pleasant rural countryside. It being the season, there were several farms displaying a "Pick Your Own Blueberries!" sign. As the BEDH indicates, the last two miles of the road and the parking lot at the trailhead are gravel surfaced. The only untoward incident occurred when we almost lost the permit down the crack between the front windshield and the dashboard. Lucky for us my wife has fingers smaller and nails longer than mine. Arriving at the trailhead, we studied the first Mile and Directions entry: "0.0 Start hiking north on the singletrack trail located next to a w

This book had the best and easiest to understand directions that I have seen so far. Great book.