Portland, Oregon: Day 2 - Biscuits, Beer, Hiking, and Martians

As is usually the case when we are in the Pacific timezone, we woke up fairly early without an alarm, and were out and about by 8:00 a.m. Our first stop was Pine State Biscuits, another famed Portland eatery. On Yelp and other online sites, I'd read about lines out the door for up to an hour for weekend breakfasts. Since we were early risers, we walked right in to an almost empty restaurant about half a mile from our hotel. The lauded dish at Pine State is the The Reggie—fried chicken, bacon, and cheese sandwiched in a buttery biscuit and covered with sausage gravy. I was not up for stomaching that before a hike, but Aaron tried it and reported that it was indeed fantastic. I chose instead to just try one of the famous biscuits with butter and honey, with eggs and bacon on the side. The biscuit (and the local raw honey) were quite tasty indeed.

Hiking Portland's 4T Trail

Once we were sufficiently fueled for our day, we walked to the MAX train station to embark on our journey on the 4T Trail. The 4T Trail highlights Portland's public transit system (train, trolley, tram) and natural trails through urban parks. We started the trail with the train, which took us to Washington Park, home of the Portland Zoo and the trailhead. We were going all-in, so we planned to walk to the tram via the forest route—4.4 miles.

The first part of the trail, from Washington Park to Council Crest, is no joke. It starts out along a sidewalk bordering the zoo, then crosses a highway where you enter the woods. Just like that, you're on a hiking trail with cars zooming below you as you climb up, up, and then up some more.

After going straight up for about a mile or so, you see a convenience store which does not sell water (pro-tip, we should have brought some with us) and then walk through a neighborhood for a few blocks until you go back into the woods to walk straight up again, this time on a paved path. While I was a sweaty mess (let's just say I'm not in the best shape of my life), this part of the hike was beautiful. It was about 10:00 a.m., and the sun was shining through the trees and illuminating spiderwebs along the path. We were very near the highest point in Portland, and although I was a red-faced mess I was enjoying myself.

As the trail exited the woods into a park, we misinterpreted the sign and backtracked along an unpaved trail ... only to find that we had to climb the paved portion again. I guess the 490 feet of elevation climbed in this segment wasn't enough for us.

Once we realized we were just supposed to follow the sidewalk in the park, we continued to some great views in Council Crest Park—and a water fountain!

From here, we continued on the forest path along the Marquam Nature Park Trail. The fast majority of this trail was downhill, so while it may have been a bit hard on the knees it was not physically challenging. I was amazed that we were in a forest in the middle of a city. My eye was drawn to the moss on the trees and branches. For some reason I think moss is one of the coolest formations in nature.

At one point in the trail, we were literally in someone's back yard.

The trail bottomed out at the Marquam Nature Park Pavilion, where we were greeted by another water fountain and porto-potties. Then we saw what stood before us: another climb. A few more switchbacks with an elevation gain of 300 feet got us to the Oregon Health Sciences University campus (and a convenience store that sold water!).

So, we had finished two T's—train and trail. Next was the tram. After some confusion, we found it (it's inside a hospital), only to realize that it does not operate on Sundays after Labor Day. This would have been a nice thing to put in all the publicity for the trail online and in the magazine we'd received from the Convention & Visitor's Bureau. I was looking forward to the tram for views of the city. Instead, we hopped a bus to get us towards our next destination—lunch and beer tasting.

Beer Tasting: Hair of the Dog

We took a bus downtown and then walked over the bridge to get to our first brewery of the day. On the way, we observed folks nearing the finish line of the Portland Marathon. It was a great day for a race.

There were also beautiful views of Portland from the bridge.

Hair of the Dog, like many breweries we've visited, is in an industrial part of town. They have an inviting patio, which was packed with people, many of whom had finished the marathon. We went inside so we could grab a table for four—we were expecting to be joined by one of my friends, whom I'm previously only known from Twitter and Facebook. We took our seats and quickly informed our server that we wanted to try every brew they had on tap (12). My favorites were:

• Blue Dot - an IPA that I actually enjoyed drinking, and I normally don't like IPAs.
• Burncider by Cider Riot (guest tap) - I really should have had more cider on this trip. This was quite tasty, and a welcome respite from hops.
• Peach Bourbon Fred From The Wood - Not because I like it as a beer, but because it's so boozy I think it tastes like port. It would be great after dinner, perhaps following a peach cobbler.

We were joined by my friend, her husband, and their wee one. We stayed a few hours, and this little girl was amazingly well behaved until just before they had to leave.

We caught the streetcar/tram back to our hotel (the third T, I guess), and I zonked out for a nap. Hiking and beer drinking takes a lot out of you! 

Who Sees A Movie On Vacation?

I rolled out of bed and showered so we could go out for our big event of the evening—a movie. The Martian was released this weekend, and Aaron had already read the book twice and was anxiously awaiting its release. We purchased tickets in advance to see it at the Bagdad Theater (a recommendation from a friend) and it turned out to be a great place to see the movie. The theater has a full bar with local brews, and if you sit in the balcony you can order dinner and have it served at your seat. The line was out the door 30 minutes before showtime, but with pre-purchased tickets we waltzed right in and were able to place our food order before the crazy line formed (we had such good luck with lines on this trip!).

The movie was entertaining, and Aaron got his fill of space and science for the trip. When the movie finished around 10:00 we were beat, so we took the streetcar back to our hotel and promptly went to bed. Day two is a wrap!

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