Portland stradles the willamette river, just south of where it flows into the columbia. On the east, portland is flat, but on the west side are several hills and a ridge line. My sister diane and her husband matt live part way up one of the hills in the sw, about 600' elev. At the top of the hill, 1000 ft elev, is council crest.Once a meeting area, now a park offering fantastic views of the surrounding mountains. There's a 3 mile loop road around the crest used by runners, dog walkers, bikers, and cars.
To test the bike out, it was either go up 400' and the back down, or go down 500+ ft and then go back up. So it was up, do a couple of loops, go up to the top to look at the views, and then back down. I had forgotten how impressive mt. hood is. The peaks of the smokies are at 5000-6000 ft. and pretty consistant. The cascades are also at around 5000 and pretty even. But every hundred miles or two, a volcano pops up, covered in snow, up to 11000-12000 feet, lording over all. Unless of course, it's blown its top off ala mt st helens. How could you not be in awe.
Around 4-5 days into our ride we'll be in the shadow of mt hood.
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