Walk 40: Milwaukie Downtown & Riverfront (3 miles)

There should be a tourism bureau ad that goes "You think you know Milwaukie? Let us show you our wild side."

This walk started at the brick-fronted City Hall, went past Clackamas County's Ledding Library (where I found a really cool out-of-print Midnight Oil CD single), the Waldorf School (sorry, no picture, but I hear they teach you how to make a really nice salad there), and by Milwaukie High School (home of the Mustangs). I believe Mom went here a few years back...?







I then left the downtown area and crossed McGloughlin, heading into the riverfront section, along the Kellogg Creek Trail. This is where it got interesting.



After walking on the trail for a while, with good views of the Willamette River, I came to 19th, a narrow back road between some beach-type houses, before approaching the tiny (and new) Spring Park, notable for an odd mound of soil and large chunks of concrete.



My inner kid told me to step up to the top of the mound, where I saw a path leading down into the Spring Park Natural Area. Turns out the little park was just a front for a well-kept secret (from me, anyway).



Again with the mud! I had to walk along some small logs that had been laid out to make it over some of the wetter areas. I hoped the view would be worth the trouble.



And it was! The north end of the natural area, nearest to Elk Rock Island, was heavily moss-covered with many large rocks and streams of River water running in and around, with a close-up view of the Island. I had the place to myself, and tromped around for awhile, using my imagination to pretend I was in some far off place, like the UK's Isle of Man. (Hey, I was listening to long-time resident of that mystical place, Rick Wakeman, on the iPod!)



From here, I had a nice view of the Island and a big waterfall across the river. This is another place I'll come back to later in the summer, when the water level is lower and I can actually walk to the Island, when it will be more of a peninsula. For now the Willamette made that goal impossible.



Walking back up the riverfront toward downtown, as I entered Milwaukie I was treated to one more interesting sight: These four lifelike statues in a display window at the famous Dark Horse Comics, one of the country's largest comic book publishers. Pretty cool!



One last stop before leaving town: Main St. Soda, where I purchased (for the first time ever) a New York egg cream (chocolate syrup, half & half, soda water). Yummy! I don't see soda fountains like this very often anymore, but this is the second one so far on this 50 walks tour (the other in Hillsboro).



Another lovely day; a nice combination of city fun and outdoorsy fresh air.