Yellowstone is America’s original National Park, and it’s my absolute favorite. The landscape is so colorful, at times noisy, even smelly in parts, both sweet and stinky. It’s a rainbow you can walk in and as a painter I daydream about it often. I’ve painted several scenes from my trips to Yellowstone, and I believe I will continue to paint scenes from there for a very long time.

Olympic National Park is HUGE. It covers a large chunk of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, and has snow-capped mountains, Pacific beaches, rainforest, rivers, with little road access except from the edges. We have been to Hurricane Ridge, a popular spot that leads to many mountainous hikes and even more mountain views , and Staircase, a section of the park that takes you along the Staircase Rapids of the North Fork Skokomish River.

Mt Tabor is an extinct volcano in Portland, OR that is a park, surrounded by neighborhoods. It has historic reservoirs, hiking trails, a dog park, kids’ playground, all in the middle of the city. You never quite know what you might see there- dance parties or wildlife.

Here in Portland I am fortunate to have many options to get outside. Tryon Creek is one such place and is a state park close enough to where I live that I am able to go most any day after work, or work it in to a busy weekend. We go there in most all weathers, enjoy the seasonal changes of flora and fauna, and though the parking lot may get crowded, we often have the trail pretty well to ourselves.

Ft Clatsop is where Lewis and Clark overwintered on the Oregon coast near present day Astoria. There is a reproduction of the original fort there with hiking trails, a visitor center that has a museum inside, and it hosts speakers on different topics relevant to the area. Part of the National Parks system, it’s good to have a pass to go for a visit.

Whatever may come of the name, the Audubon Society is cool and the Portland branch is a favorite of ours. It’s situated against Portland’s Forest Park- the largest urban park in America! It has trails in back along a stream, rehabilitates birds, has a couple of birds out for the public to meet, a gift shop and education programs. The birds they have there now are a great horned owl and a peregrine falcon who we love to see when we visit. We took a little hike there the other day and saw a pileated woodpecker along the Woodpecker Trail! We see them once in a while and it always feels noteworthy, an event.

As of writing this Cory and I are at 56 and 61 hikes respectively, with our goal for the year being 100. We have been trying to catch up from a lot going on, and in so doing have spent some nice time outdoors. We camped recently at our favorite spot, this time bringing a friend. We brought along a black light and took some fun pictures using it at night, capturing lots of glowing lichen on trees.

If you have been following me for any length of time you know my husband and I hike, a lot. You may have wondered why a painter like me is putting so much about her hikes on her painting blog. Fair. I try to share who I am, the why behind my painting, and for me that means a lot of hiking related posts. It wasn’t always that way.