Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

With car sharing, pedal-powered gyms and 10,000 acres of leafy and grassy parkland, it’s no secret that Portland is a big fan of all things green. In fact, with the way that locals go about composting, recycling and repurposing waste, you could say we revel in eco-friendly fun every day. But the party becomes official when World Environment Day (June 5) is celebrated as a part of the Portland Rose Festival, the city’s signature event for going on 106 years.

An annual United Nations program dating back to 1972, World Environment Day (WED) is observed worldwide, raising awareness for climate and ecological issues while encouraging political attention and action. Portland’s piece of the party will be a rally at the RoZone fair in  Waterfront Park. The free afternoon event includes educational activities like story-telling sessions, mask-making seminars, fly-casting and -tying lessons, a trash art exhibition and the Procession of the Species mini-parade, where people dress as their favorite animals to give praise to the planet. Additional WED events are planned around the city.

The inspiring event is just a small part of both WED and the Portland Rose Festival, which for the last 14 years has been named the “Cleanest and Greenest Festival in America” by the International Festivals and Events Association. Get in on some of its old-fashioned, good clean fun, including perennial highlights like the opening-night fireworks (May 24), Starlight Parade (June 1), Grand Floral Parade (June 8) and Dragon Boat Races (June 8-9).

When the weather heats up in the Pacific Northwest, the best way to cool down isn’t necessarily with a crisp beverage (though we do have plenty of great micro-brewed and -distilled options). The preferred method is an all-ages cocktail of water, wind and elevation that adds up to white-water rafting on the Clackamas River.

Located 30 miles east of Portland, this mountain-fed waterway gushes with class III and IV rapids in the springtime, when the currents coming off Mount Hood are particularly strong, and lower-powered class III waves from May to August as the weather gets warmer. Winding through old-growth forests, creatively named rapids like Sling Shot, Hole-in-the-Wall, Toilet Bowl and Bob’s Hole get the adrenaline pumping for rafters as young as 10 years old, while allowing paddlers of all ages plenty of time between whitewater to catch their breath (or even take a dip into the river’s crystal-clear waters).

There are several rafting outfits on the Clackamas. Blue Sky Rafting has been paddling Oregon’s rivers since 1998, and offers half- and full-day intermediate-level trips along the Clackamas that come with everything you need (including a barbecue lunch for full-day trips). All Adventures Rafting, whose guides have been licensed for upwards of 30 years, offers similar packages. And All Star also plies the Clackamas on weekends in May and June, and offers midweek runs for groups of eight or more, as well.

The best time to dip your toe in the whitewater may be during the Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival (May 18-19). With slalom events, inner-tubing fun, and a catboat keep-away game, this 30th-annual event is fun whether you’re dripping wet or on dry land, and an excellent way to soak in summertime in the great Northwest.

Solling Pedersen, 1978, Denmark

Bikes are big in Portland. Like 300-plus miles of bike lanes big. So big that we were dubbed “America’s Best Bike City” by Bicycling Magazine in 2012 — another in a list of accolades that stretches about as far as the aforementioned bike lanes.

Since art imitates life, it makes sense that the Portland Art Museum will feature a stunning array of iconic bicycle designs with “Cyclepedia” (June 8 – Sept. 8), a special exhibition of 40 two-wheelers integral to bike design.

T & C Pocket Bici, c. 1963, Italy

Featuring touring, racing, mountain and even children’s bikes, the display is a comprehensive look at the evolution of bicycles, and is required ogling for riders and design buffs alike. Fittingly, Portland is the only U.S. stop for this European collection.

With accompanying programs like public workshops, lectures, locally made bike displays and even free bike tours in June and July, this exhibit offers an excellent way to get a peek at Portland’s pedal-powered culture.

Photo by Dolan Halbrook via Flickr

It’s a small outdoor venue unlike any other: a grassy lawn, sloping down to a modestly-sized stage and bandshell, with an elephant yard on one side and a red ape reserve on the other. For the past 35 years, musicians and fans alike have flocked to the Oregon Zoo each summer to revel in music, sunshine and friends — including those of the feathered and furry varieties.

The 2013 Oregon Zoo Summer Concert Series (June 22 – Sept. 6) boasts a roster of artists as diverse as the park’s residents, which range from African bullfrogs to Visayan warty pigs. Folk singer/songwriter John Prine takes the stage on opening night; maybe he’ll perform “Crazy as a Loon,” a favorite of the birds in the nearby aviary. Ziggy Marley brings his Jamaican reggae to town on June 30 — his song “Black Cat” might elicit a roar from the zoo’s resident big cats. Other musical acts on the schedule include Weird Al Yankovic, the Indigo Girls, Randy Newman, the B-52s, Los Lobos and the Doobie Brothers. Alas, no Snoop Dog, er, Lion.

Shows start at 7 p.m., with access to the concert area at 5 p.m. Concert tickets also grant zoo access for the full day, so plan to visit the animals before the show. And whether you bring a picnic (no outside beverages) or enjoy the zoo’s selection of local food, beer and wine, be sure to fill up — after all, you wouldn’t want your stomach growling louder than the Amur tigers (or the bands).

Cherry blossoms and rhododendrons herald spring’s arrival within Portland, but if you’re really into flowers, you’ll want to feast your eyes on the many wildflower patches around the region — natural beauties that you won’t find anyplace else.

Bursting with color in late April and early May, the Camassia Natural Area in West Linn was carved out thousands of years ago by the great floods, but it’s a natural work of art that’s stood the test of time. A 16-mile drive south of downtown Portland, the 26-acre preserve can get muddy in the springtime, but from its trails you’ll see more than 300 different plant species and plenty of familiar birds flocking overhead.

About 10 miles west of Portland, Beaverton’s Cooper Mountain Nature Park features 3.5 miles of gravel trails — excellent footing from which to explore the 231 acres of prairies and woodlands. The trails also offer views of the Chehalem Mountains and Tualatin Valley, showing off Oregon’s natural splendor with bursts of wildflowers all around.

Looking for more blooms? Travel Oregon offers a guide to more wildflower hikes around the state.

Stretch it out, lace ‘em up and pump up the volume—because it’s T-minus three months until the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon (May 19)! Portland’s stop on this popular series of nationwide road races, a half-marathon that winds from downtown to the east side and back, kicks off the Portland Rose Festival, and advance registration is already underway.

As scenic as it is exciting, this 13.1-miler crosses Stumptown bridges, zig-zags through neighborhoods like Laurelhurst and rocks all over town with more than 10,000 participants getting cheered on at every mile point by bands and fans alike. And while the closed course, with its gradual inclines and pleasant setting, was popular among participants at last year’s inaugural event, what drew even more rave reviews was the convenient coordination of the race expo, starting line and downtown hotels. If you’re all business about your road races, Portland’s Rock ‘n’ Roll is your kind of party.

And this year — because there’s nothing more rock ‘n’ roll than a party boat — the Portland Spirit cruise ship will serve up a continental breakfast and live entertainment for friends and family of runners, giving them up-close views of the race’s bridge crossings from Willamette River. And the boat docks in time for everyone to rock out together at the finish line.

Photo by Masonite Burn, via Flickr

When did sports become about performance-enhancing drugs, player strikes, owner lockouts and everything other than the game? Don’t ask the Rose City Rollers — for the past eight years, they’ve been competing with old-fashioned gusto and intensity, all for the love of the game — the game of flat track roller derby.

This all-female, all-volunteer-run league has battled its way to the top of Portland’s sports fandom in recent years, packing venues from the Memorial Coliseum, which accommodates thousands of fans, to the hangar at Oaks Amusement Park, where hundreds squeeze into an intense, intimate space to cheer on the passionate, padded gladiatrices.

The 2013 season is underway, and the ladies’ wheels are already spinning for the next bout, Feb. 22, when Salem’s 8 Wheel Assassins travel upstate to take on the local A-squad, the Guns ‘N’ Rollers. The season runs through Dec. 7 and includes bouts against international foes from Australia and London.

Tickets are available online to see these fast, furious, stunning and bold hometown girls, with names (like “Scarlene,” “Juvie Hall” and “Roarshock Tess”) as colorful as their hairstyles and body art. But to them, image is secondary – winning is everything. So pull up a seat along the track, and grab a beer or glass of wine from the concession stand, because this is how we roll in Portland.

Photo by Kara Howland, via Flickr

It’s an annual tradition: When the (Gregorian) calendar turns to a new year, Portland’s Lan Su Chinese Garden celebrates with Great Eight Free Days (Jan. 5-12, 2013).

From 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each of these eight days, you can visit the lovely urban oasis at no cost (general admission is regularly $9.50). Explore the pathways, buildings and bridges, then duck into the authentic, two-story teahouse for warm drinks and snacks. And don’t miss the display of Chinese New Year gifts, laid out in anticipation of the beginning of the Year of the Snake on Feb. 10.

Fireworks at Mt. Hood Ski Bowl, courtesy of MtHoodTerritory.com

It’s beginning to look a lot like winter — especially when you take a peek at the peak of Mount Hood on Portland’s horizon. Just a 90-minute drive from the downtown, the mountain sits right in the city’s backyard and makes for a heck of a winter playground. In fact, there are a number of different ways to enjoy Mount Hood’s wonderland of snow.

For skiing and snowboarding, Mount Hood Meadows, Mt. Hood Ski Bowl and Timberline can’t be beat. Meadows, with 11 lifts, 85 runs and a three-mile stretch of uninterrupted downhill, has a trail for every level of skier. Ski Bowl, with the largest night ski area in the country, keeps snow-hungry riders shushing for hours. And Timberline, a national historic landmark, is as popular for its relaxing lodge as for its runs. (more…)

Random notes on some recent experiences — an exhibition, a play and a hike – filled with dramatic peaks (both figurative and literal) that are rooted in history and culture, and enriched by the written word:

• In his insightful review of The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece — on view at the Portland Art Museum through Jan. 6 – Bob Hicks of Oregon Arts Watch reminds us that “it was a painted urn, after all, that inspired Keats to poetry.”  And while seeing The Discobolus might conjure up memories of a long-ago art history class, Hicks notes that “You can’t bring back the past. You can only glimpse it and try to understand it, dimly. Still, The Body Beautiful reminds us that a great deal of what began in Greece is still a vital part of us.”
• Earlier this month, Hicks waxed poetic about August Wilson, who wrestles with a more recent past in Seven Guitars, part of Wilson’s 10-play cycle that illuminates the African-American experience. The terrific production at Artists Repertory Theatre runs through Nov. 11. (A quick side note for fans of Wilson: Portland Playhouse will stage King Hedley II Dec. 6-30).

Ruckel Creek Trail

• I was lucky enough to catch a Friday-night performance of Seven Guitars, followed a couple of days later by a hike in the Columbia River Gorge, where I covered a portion of the Ruckel Creek Trail. It’s a challenging climb, but one that yields a particularly nice reward, best described by the great William L. Sullivan: a “strange, hummocky, moss-covered rockslide” pockmarked with pits that “were dug at least 1,000 years ago, evidently as vision quest sites for young Indian men.” For further inspiration — plus helpful maps and deft descriptions — check out Sullivan’s indispensible guidebook, 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington.