On Saturday my wife and a friend joined me to take on the newly inaugurated 4T Trail (map). The loop weaves though southwest Portland by trail, tram, trolley, and train, revealing some of the most beautiful scenery and views in the city.

We hit the trail at Washington Park making a moderately steep, but relatively easy climb about 2 miles to Council Crest Park. The park is Portland’s highest point and on a clear day offers incredible views of the surrounding area to the southwest, and Portland International Airport to the north.

At the center of the park lies a great compass made of inlaid stone. The compass has a unique acoustic effect; while standing at the compass’ midpoint, even softly spoken words reverberate all around you.

After enjoying the views, we were off down the other side of the park, over trails through some of the prettiest forests and neighborhoods in Portland.

Completing the second half of the trail, we emerged at the northwest side of OHSU and made the short walk a couple blocks to catch the tram. The tram took just a few minutes to carry us down to the waterfront offering a little time to enjoy a view of the cityscape to the north, and surrounding areas in all directions.

At the bottom of the tram, we waited a short time to board a Portland Streetcar and make the 10 minute ride to SW Morrison and 10th.

We were pressed for time so we headed straight to the stop to catch our train back to our car; otherwise, this would have been a good time to grab lunch. After just a few minutes, our train arrived and we returned to the parking lot at the Oregon Zoo.

The 4T Loop was incredibly fun and made for a wonderful 3.5 hour adventure on a wonderfully sunny and warm afternoon. Total cost was a whopping $2.00 for the public transit segments.

Sunday evening the whole family visited Northwest Portland to watch the Vaux Swifts roost in the old brick chimney at Chapman School. Each year during the month of September, these little birds return to Portland on their way to the warmer climates of Central and South America.

We arrived about an hour before sunset, and found parking a few blocks away from the campus and neighboring Wallace Park. There was a huge crowd gathered on the field and grassy area at the southwest corner of the school, where there is a clear view of the chimney at the rear of the building. It’s really quite a spectacle with a couple food cart vendors and kids with cookie stands serving the lively crowd.

Within a few minutes of arriving the birds began to appear, resembling dark, moving clouds or swarms of bees. Every couple of minutes a group would approach flying erratically, dive toward the chimney, and then dart away as if testing whether it was time to go in.

The groups began to combine making larger, and larger swarms, circling the chimney like a tornado. A hawk appeared, swooping into the middle of the birds, trying to grab a small swift for dinner but was repelled and chased by a flock that by this time consisted of thousands of birds.

Just a few minutes after sunset the large flock swirling over head, as if cued by someone or something, began diving into the chimney like they were being poured from a pitcher. It is a truly incredible site. And the hawk? He found his opportunity, returning twice to pick off a little bird just at the top of the chimney.

Video featuring the few last minutes of the swifts pouring into the chimney including the hawk assault.

Fabulous weekend in the Rose City.

Posted via email from meanderings

I got to thinking about photos. I’ve been using an old 2.1-megapixel camera for the last few years, and while it’s sufficient for shooting pictures at the kid’s sporting events, it is not the best camera for capturing truly beautiful photos. It was time to update. I set out to find point-and-shoot in the 7+ megapixel range that is easy to handle, has a big zoom range, good image quality, and of course, works with Linux.

The first 2 cameras I looked at were the Canon SD-750, and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100. Both are capable cameras, but each had drawbacks. The SD-750 is a bit small for my liking, and has a fairly low 3x optical zoom. The DSC-T100 fairs slightly better with a 5x optical zoom, but since I prefer to stick with SD memory card compatible cameras, Sony’s offerings drop right off the list.

I stumbled across a Ubuntu forum post that mentioned the Panasonic Lumix, and after reading several reviews, I became interested in the DSC-FZ8 with 12x optical zoom. While this camera is smaller than it’s traditional SLR counterparts, it is much larger than other cameras I had considered. Big drawback. Then I discovered the DSC-TZ3.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 is only slightly larger than the Canon and Sony cameras I tried, but actually feels much more comfortable in my hand. The DMC-TZ3 features 7.2-megapixel resolution, image stabilization, and a Leica DC lens with 10x optical zoom (15x Extended Optical Zoom). It uses SD memory and is accessible via USB as a mass storage device or PTP interface (good for Linux). The camera offers a host of other features too numerous to mention. I picked one up at Amazon for $329 (including a free 1GB High-speed SD memory card).

Impressions so far: Very nice camera. Easy to use; takes vivid, colorful photos; awesome zoom, with incredibly effective image stabilization; very fast burst mode (3fps) for action shots.

Drawbacks: Linux support (libgphoto as Panasonic DMC-FZ20) is so-so; access is best via PTP. Picasa (my preferred photo management application) does not capture EXIF information, but fortunately, Digikam does. So for now I will use Digikam to unload into my Picasa photo folders… small price to pay I guess.

I’ll post samples soon.

We ran out-and-back from Fit Right Northwest on 23rd Ave., north to Thurman St., then west up to (and a couple miles in) the Leif Erickson trail at Forest Park. Our group is training at a 3:50 target marathon time, but I think the pace setter may have thought they said 2:50! The 3.5 miles uphill were brutal. Rick pointed out that last week, we were all carrying on conversations, this week… not a word. Coming down we had the wind and rain in our face, but I thought it was great. For me, there is just something refreshing about running in the rain. Nobody bothered to clock it, but it looks like we came in about 1:04 for 7 miles. Not too shabby!

I have read much about the Leif Erickson trail, and even in the dreary weather it was beautiful. Along most of our run, we looked out over the Willamette river. Under favorable conditions, the view must be spectacular. This will definitely be a favorite Spring/Summer run.