Forest Park still has secrets

So I've had probably the most stressful 4 month stretch I've had maybe ever. Got the flu around Thanksgiving, had to deal with the passing of my Father at Christmas.Then something I'm not allowed to talk about yet happened at my day job, I had to keep up with playoff football demands, and on top of it all, we had to move. After 6 years in our cozy old building in NW Portland, we moved to the far more remote tip of the city: St. Johns. A much quieter, homey place.

After so long I finally had a chance to go exploring the new neighborhood. 15 minutes of walking takes me to Pier Park, a wonderful woodsy park full of towering fir trees and a disc golf course that makes no sense. There is also a nice bridge and a good biking path. I can tell I'll be passing through here all summer long.

But what I was most excited about is living within walking distance of the St. Johns Bridge and Cathedral Park, possibly the prettiest park in the city underneath the prettiest bridge in the city. A mile and a half from home and I'm on the other side at the base of the Ridge trail, an old Forest Park nemesis.

The Ridge Trail has one of the few good viewpoints in FP, so I went up and within a 10th of a mile found the spot, beautifully framed in the fresh snow.

The trail also climbs up a bit further then splits. The left climbs back up to the top and Firelane 7, but the right just goes back down to a different side of the bridge road. I'd never actually taken this little 10th of a mile of trail, and wouldn't you know it, it has a secret.

It also has a good view!

But at a sharp corner near the bottom, a small user path wanders off towards the gully below. But it twists around a corner and BAM, right in plain sight just off trail is a fantastic little amphitheater complete with a trickle waterfall in the middle. It's a beautiful space. The trail steeply scrambles to the bottom and then again to the top of the waterfall zone. I stood on top the falls and admired this little grotto, which I had all to myself in the snow. It was the kind of small moment you go into the woods for in the first place.

Soon we will be getting back out to real hikes, but in the meantime it's wonderful to explore a whole new area and I also predict I'll be taking all the pictures of the St. Johns Bridge.