A December Outing along the Portland Waterfront


I enjoy the fact that, unlike nature photography, urban photography requires a focus on sharp angles and geometric shapes.

To sharpen this aspect of my photography, I parked on the east side of the Willamette River and began walking north.

Soon the Hawthorne Bridge was reached where the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade begins. The Esplanade extends 1 1/2 miles and includes a floating walkway, the longest one of its kind in the United States.

At the Steel Bridge, the north end of the Esplanade, there is a walkway under the Bridge only 30 feet above the Willamette River.

Upon reaching the west bank of the River, I turned north eventually doing a fun loop through the Pearl District before returning to the River. The Pearl is always interesting. It’s a reclamation of an old industrial district with a combination of bike lanes, light rail, condos, apartments, one-way streets, little parking availability, upscale eating establishments, breweries and art galleries.

Returning to the River, I waked along the west side waterfront area until reaching the Hawthorne Bridge.

I finished the loop enjoying the urban views along the way. All in all, it was a pleasant four-mile outing.

Floating walkway

Burnside Bridge

Walkway underneath Steel Bridge with Convention City Towers in background

Steel Bridge with light rail cars followed by a city bus

Cormorants

Floating Esplanade

The very-recognizable dancing deer on the Portland Sign

The Fountain on the west side of the River

Light rail above commercial rail cars on the Steel Bridge

Commonly referred to as the Madonna Bridge (Fremont Bridge) due to Madonna’s movie made in Portland

Tug returning an empty barge to Ross Island

Esplanade as seen from the west side of the River

Categories: Portland Area HikesTags: , , ,

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