This walk started at Gustav's Pub & Grill, at NE 50th & Sandy, and headed immediately for a dead end. But of course, as always, the dead end wasn't...for walkers. Just had to make sure to stay to the left so as not to walk into somebody's yard...
This walk was all about stairs, up 75, up another 123, down 80, etc. In other words, I loved it. Several times I would be walking along and wouldn't even see it till I almost walked past them, then there they were immediately to my right or left.
This was great fun and a good workout. The last one down gave me an adrenaline rush, because a scary looking dog barked through a wire mesh fence right next to me the whole way down. Wish I'd taken a video! I was tempted to go back and do it again but I honestly didn't want to stress the dog too much.
Other than that, the outstanding feature of this neighborhood-on-a-ridge is the "enchanted forest houses without the forest" feel of the place. I would love to live in one of these! (And almost every house has its own set of stairs as well.)
Great sledding hill here, for those rare snowy days, provided they clear the cars out when that happens:
Here I go...
(Sorry about the little graphic in the middle - the drawbacks of free shareware.)
A short outing, but a good one, this headed up some steep hills over and around one of the several volcanic cinder cones listed in the Walk There book.
This walk started at NE 60th and Salmon, where I spotted a large tree that looked like something out of the magic "apple tree forest" in Wizard of Oz. Oh, when I was younger I would've wanted to climb this!
Heading down 60th, it was time to "storm the castle" toward Reservoir 6.
I spotted some ducks swimming around, and I suddenly had the thought: "This is some of Portland's drinking water...what happens when they poop in it?"
These thoughts didn't improve as I pondered the ring of moss and mildew around the sides:
Now the real climbing began, as I skipped up the 126 steps to Reservoir 5.
Above this reservoir, I turned back to get a great look down at the water and East Portland below:
I proceeded up to smaller Reservoir 1, which only intensified my doubts about open air storage of drinking water...
At the top of the Mount, I came to a statue of Harvey W. Scott, early and long-time editor of the Oregonian, and "molder of opinion in Oregon and the nation" according to the inscription. From the side I thought he looked a bit like Lenin:
So, if Mt. Scott was named after him, why is his statue standing at the top of Mt. Tabor? Is he pointing toward the correct Mt?
I came across not one but two charming cottage style bathrooms. That was a nice touch.
It was then I came across the elusive "pukatron" ride. Many good times (and a few scrapes) have been had on these things!
I hopped on for a quick ride...
A little ways downhill from this small park, there was an amphitheater carved into the hill. (Hmm, another potential "cowbell concert in the park" location.)
Heading back toward Salmon Street, I encountered a three path choice. The nice thing about the smallish size of Mt. Tabor is, you can't really get too lost no matter which one you choose.
I found this online brochure about Portland's open air reservoirs. About those health and cleanliness concerns? Not to worry. According to this, they clean them twice a year.
