Girls Gone Wildwood

Most of the routes we post are 20+ miles long, but sometimes it nice just to get out for a quick run. The north end of Forest Park, or the end as some people call it since Wildwood ends at Newberry, is overlooked since it's a lot further away from the city center of Portland.  The north end of the park feels a lot different to me than the rest of the park. It feels lush, quite and the trees seem larger. I am not sure if this is actually true, but it sure feels that way. My favorite short loop is lollypop loop that weaves in BPA, Firelanes 12 & 15. You get to run next to a stream and get a nice climb back up to Wildwood.  I hope you enjoy this route as much as I do.    Route: Newberry/Wildwood  Left on BPA Left on Firelane 12 Left on Firelane 15 Right on Wildwood Total 5.45 / 834 ft gain ( according to Strava )

a rare break in the rain cloud Dog Mountain is arguably one of the most popular late spring / early summer hikes in the Columbia Gorge due to the amount of wildflowers in bloom and the views of the Gorge. It has become so popular that you have to get permits on the weekend through late April to mid-June. Due to this fact I have not hiked / ran Dog Mountain in years. Susan unexpectedly had this past Friday off and texted me that she could run on Friday and Saturday. Knowing that we were going to do our long run on Saturday I suggested we go to Dog Mountain since we didn't need a permit and could get a good amount of vert over a short distance and bonus wildflowers. I decided to leave Cedar at home because I didn't know how crowded it was going to be and having a dog on leash who pulls a lot going down Dog Mountain as asking for problems.  Susan making her way up Dog Mountain We got to the trailhead around 8am and there were probably half a dozen cars in the lot, not too bad. It

Three racers at the start  We ran a race in real life! While we participated in Peterson Ridge last year (and got the socks, which is the most important thing), the race was virtual, so we just tagged our normal weekend run for it. This year, however, we got to run the real course. Beautiful morning for the race Race day morning was gorgeous. For COVID safety protocol, the race started in waves, and we were in the last wave at 9:45am. That lovely late start meant that it already felt decently warm, unlike other years that started with freezing frost, and ended in tank tops and sunburn. It felt so exciting to be there with the race clock, start flags, and a handful of other people. The race director counted us down and we were off! Three Sisters Views I was excited, but no one was more excited than Cedar, Ann's dog. His first Peterson was two years ago, in 2019, and while he loved it, he was also a very different dog back then since Ann hadn't had him very long. He pulled every