July 13, 2020
At long last I think summer is here. We’ve had a cool drizzly June into July. But today was sunny from the moment we woke up and promised a high in the low 80’s. My buddy Mike T. told me about this spot a few months ago and I’ve been waiting for a sunny day.I decided to walk up to Matrix Hill Park in Beaverton. It is immediately north of the Walmart on Murray Blvd – so not a super long walk for me.
Here is a view from Google Maps.
Like all the walks north from my house, there was a long gradual incline.
I stopped along the way to admire a rose in someone’s garden.
After going through a neighborhood, I found the trail between a couple of houses and started up a steeper trail with a switchback or two. Matrix Hill is a very small park with a concrete base on top with a couple of benches. Mike was right, the view was amazing. This is a panorama merged from 3 or 4 photos. You can click on it to get a bigger image. The WalMart parking lot is the main feature in the middle and you can see the power line cutting clearing to the south.
Unfortunately, there was just enough haze to block the view of our local – and not so local – mountains: Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, Mt Adams; and sometimes Mt Ranier. I’ll have to get up early to capture those.
A little bit north of Matrix Hill Park is Sexton Mountain Meadows Park. I’ve see the path from it hundreds of times driving down Murray Blvd but I never paid much attention to what the park was like. It’s a small park with a couple of playgrounds and a walking track around a green. The view north was a bit better than from Matrix Hill.
On my way home I walked through my current favorite neighborhood park: Hyland Forest Park. You can see photos from there and other areas in my Walks In The Time Of COVID-19 album on Flickr.
