On a cool, cloudy and drizzly weekend day in mid-February, I did a pleasant 12-mile loop hike from home. The goal was to take photos capturing the essence of Portland in the wintertime. This is the second half of the photographic journey.

After walking along the Willamette River, I passed into the Pearl District. It’s a reclamation of an old industrial area that now is a highly-desirable, hip, high-density urban environment.

After exploring the Pearl for awhile, I returned to the Willamette River. Heading south I enjoyed the scenery until reaching the lower terminus of the tram to the Oregon Health & Science University. Taking the scenic tram ride saved me about one-half of the 1,000-foot elevation gain to Council Crest.

After reaching OHSU, I ate a snack while taking in the expansive views over the City.

From there I connected with the Marquam Trail and ascended to Council Crest in about two miles. Because of the overcast skies, there were no views of the snow-tipped Cascade volcanoes.

In another 1 1/2 miles I was home.

Since I moved to Portland the metro area’s population has increased 85%, from 1.3 to 2.4 million people, without much change in urban-growth boundaries. It’s beginning to show.