The View from Elk Rock

In my Elk Rock Island post last October, I mentioned briefly that the high cliffs across the river were a public park too. I put it on my blog todo list (and yes, I do have such a thing) to go check the place out, and I finally got around to it the other day. So this is the place the city calls the "Peter Kerr Property". Or more precisely, I took these from slightly outside the park, at the intersection of SW Riverside Drive (i.e. Macadam / OR 43 ) and SW Greenwood Rd., down in luxo-ritzy Dunthorpe. The park itself is the extremely steep ivy-choked hillside in the foreground of most of these photos. Elk Rock Island is just across the river, and 200-some feet straight down.

I was actually hoping for a better view than this -- I don't see Mt. Hood anywhere, and there are all these ivy-strangled trees in the way. But hey. It is what it is, and now I can tick this item off my todo list, for whatever that's worth.

Since I've already posted on the topic, I won't get pedantic at length about how this is a Portland city park despite being outside city limits, nor will I go on about the curious fact that Dunthorpe's managed to stay outside city limits all these years. I won't do the latter because I'd hate to anger powerful Dunthorpians (Dunthorpites? Dunthorpoids?), who like low taxes and love staying off the radar. Seriously, you don't want to make them angry. A couple of quick phone calls and they'll have you deleted from the space-time continuum, along with all your ancestors going back to the last ice age, and your little dog too.

Needless to say, I won't explain exactly how I got here. I will mention that buses 35 and 36 stop nearby, I suppose so butlers, cooks, gardeners, nannies, and others who serve the Dunthorpii can get to work without sullying the area with their grubby little non-upscale cars. Not that there's anywhere convenient to park anyway.

The photos on the city's "Peter Kerr Property" page (link above) must be from a different vantage point than mine. The park does continue for a couple of blocks or so north of the intersection, so that must be what's going on. I didn't stay long enough to find out for sure, since I didn't much care for all the traffic whizzing by a couple of feet behind me as I was taking these. I'd meant to take a few infrared photos since I've kind of been on an IR bender lately, but after a few minutes I just went, screw it, I'm out of here. This place could be a nice scenic viewpoint if only there was somewhere to stand and take photos without being mauled by luxury SUVs. Of course, that would attract outsiders to the area, and I guess that's to be avoided. Well, plus I don't see the city putting a lot of resources into improving the place if the local neighbors aren't going to pay any taxes for its upkeep. Oh, well.