Walking Portland: PDX Women Who Walk

Join us as we walk every beautiful, soulful neighborhood in Portland. And we mean that–literally.

It started as something of a lark. To shed a few pounds and force myself away from the computer screen for a couple of hours a day. I decided to walk.

Walking sounded like more fun than working out at the gym or busting butt on the Peloton bike–which husband/partner James and daughter/partner Rachel both hit at 5:00 a.m. daily from different locations across the city. Those two are maniacs.

I began with daily short walks of a few blocks in Portland’s Pearl District, packing a lightweight Nikon mirrorless camera attached to a crossbody strap for ease and comfort.

On a typical day, I shot 100+ photos across Portland. One year later, and 50 pounds lighter, I’m still at it. But the distance is now 6-10 miles a day. And 200+ photos is the norm.

Walking has become my ME time–exercise, adventure, wonder, appreciation, meditation–all rolled into 2-3 blissful hours. And it counts as work too, as the best of the photos go into local blog posts, neighborhood guides, restaurant/coffee/shopping guides, and photo galleries for SkyBlue Portland Real Estate.

In the process of exploring Portland’s five diverse quadrants (quintants actually, but no one ever uses that odd word), I’ve become our real estate team’s resident neighborhood expert. There’s nothing like hitting the pavement on foot with a camera to get the feel of a neighborhood.

As I talk about these daily adventures on Facebook, it was probably inevitable that folks would begin to ask if they could join me. And even though my daily solitary routine is by now sacrosanct, it occurred to me one bright morning that offering a well-curated, guided walk once a month might appeal to some folks. You know, just throw it out there and see what happens.

PDX Women Who Walk Meetup

And now eight monthly walks later, PDX Women Who Walk is going strong.

Every walk is documented with a photo loaded blog post that includes a link to the corresponding Google walking map, which I refine and update over time.

And best of all the SkyBlue Portland team sponsors, develops, and leads these neighborhood walks as part of its community engagement and support commitment.

Past Portland Metro Walks

Here’s where we’ve trekked so far. Each blog post includes an intro, time, distance, difficulty, terrain, route map, best options for coffee and lunch, and photo gallery.

1. Walking Portland: Northwest River District, Slabtown & Northwest District
2. Walking Portland: Willamette Greenway, Eastbank Esplanade, Inner Eastside
3. Walking Portland: Laurelhurst, Kerns & Laurelhurst Park
4. Walking Portland: SE Sellwood & Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge
5. Walking Portland: Northwest District, Forest Park & Willamette Heights
6. Walking Portland: Sellwood, Eastmoreland, Reed College & Reed Lake
7. Walking Portland: Pearl District, Nob Hill & Kings Heights Loop
8. Walking Portland: John’s Landing & South Willamette Greenway
9. Walking Portland: Multnomah, Hillsdale, Gabriel Park
10. Walking Portland: Elliott/Boise/Piedmont, N Mississippi Ave, N Williams Ave

Bookmark the Walking Portland Category for future walk posts.

Copyright 2019-2024 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.