November 7, 2013
by David Ryan
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A Spontaneous Stair Wandering in Portland, Oregon

Public stairways are featured in The Gentle Art of Wandering because they are perfect for wandering and exploring in the urban environment. A little over a week ago I had another chance for a stair wandering adventure when I visited my daughter’s family in Portland, Oregon. It started when my daughter mentioned to me that she noticed some stairs along U.S. 30 in the Linnton neighborhood of Portland. Before she had a chance to change her mind, we were on our way to check them out.

We spotted several stairways along U.S. 30 and parked the car when we saw a set of stairs at 107th Avenue. Before venturing up the stairs we took a couple of minutes to read a set of signs at the base of the stairs that told the story of Linnton.

These are the stairs at 107th Avenue and U.S. 30 (St. Helens Road). The descriptive signs are to the right of the stairs. There is also a bus stop to the right if you want to make your adventure entirely on foot.

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October 29, 2013
by David Ryan
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Getting Ideas for a Backcountry Wandering Adventure from a Map

The basic premise of The Gentle of Art of Wandering is that you can have an amazing adventure no matter where you are if you allow yourself to see. But you won’t have that adventure if you never get out. That’s why it’s worthwhile to have a backlog of ideas to keep you going out.

As mentioned in the book, if you need an idea, a map is a good place to find one. And last week I used a map to find a very different and excellent backcountry adventure.

This adventure started several months ago when someone told me about an old masonry dam in the middle of the desert on a river that is only wet when it rains. The dam was built in the 1890s to provide irrigation for a very questionable real estate scheme.

Although the dam’s foundation was built on bedrock, the surrounding land and flood plain was (and still is) a combination of sand, silt, and mud. As you can imagine, when the first big storm came, the surging water quickly dissolved the dirt and went around the dam.

With the dam rendered worthless, any hope for the real estate project washed away with that first surge of water. The real estate project is now very isolated range land. The dam is still there and, except for a handful of cattle, all alone in the desert. Continue Reading →

October 9, 2013
by David Ryan
9 Comments

Wandering to a Natural Hot Spring in New Mexico

If you have been to Taos, New Mexico, you’ve probably taken a picture of San Francisco de Asis Church. If you haven’t been to the church, it’s only four miles from the center of Taos in the small community of Ranchos de Taos. It is a simple and beautiful building that has been photographed by Ansel Adams and is the subject of several Georgia O’Keefe paintings.

When you approach the church, you’ll be coming in from the back.

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