Winter Hike

OK so most of you probably don't consider getting to and from work an adventure in hiking...well last December 22 -28 changed the minds of many all over Portland.

Portland, OR every few years likes to reminds us that we do live in Oregon and not California by giving us a snowstorm/ice storm...and last years storm was a good one...It blew in on the first Day of Winter and hung around for an entire week shutting down parts of Portland including the Airport. Monday morning started out with just a few inches that got steadily deeper as the day progressed.

That was the last day that anybody got around normally. My commute to work usually consisted of a leisure train ride to the Park blocks then hopping a bus to Montgomery Park total travel time...maybe 40 min....Expecting the worse from the weather I left at home that morning the high heels, slacks and silk blouse opting for something a little more precautionary...tights under jeans, a solid base layer under a wool sweater, waterproof jacket, insulating wool socks, and my indispensable snow boots by The North Face...without these boots and the super traction, warmth, and water resistance there would have been no getting to work...and I got to work every single day in the snow...even when it reached 12 in. deep.

It was an interesting getting to my office every day, and it grew into a challenge. What normally took 40 min. was now taking me an hour and a half or more...I no longer caught the train but waited for the shuttle bus to the Rose Quarter...from there catching the Max blue line to the Park blocks then slogging over to catch the bus...and praying it would show, and then make it up the hill. Coming home is where the adventure took place...buses were late or no shows...most days I would walk down the hill to 23 rd and then walk all of 23rd to find a bus that would get me to a prearranged destination where I would meet the boyfriend and we would catch a Max from Downtown...one night we had to walk across the bridge to the Rose Quarter...the Max froze to the tracks...brutal cold, windy, and ceaseless snow w/e it was completely doable with the right gear, and thankfully I had the right gear...The best parts of this adventure?...being able to say that I got to work that week... and finding so many great pubs on my way home in the evening...hehe.