SNOW DAZE ...will hike for beer. Hillsdale Pub & Brewery

Mode: Urban Hike
Start and Finish: Hamilton Park
Route: Loop
Distance: 8.3 miles

Urban Hiking in Southwest Portland

This trip was supposed to be an urban mountain bike ride and I planned the loop in the opposite direction but the recent "winter blast" in Portland prompted some last minute changes. The best adventures are spontaneous and this was no exception.

It was just another typical winter day in Minnesota, Michigan or even Pennsylvania where I grew up, but not in Portland. Despite our northern latitude, winters in Portland are typically mild and snow that "sticks" is rare. It doesn't take much for schools to close, businesses to send employees home early or drivers to lose control or abandon their vehicles. This weekends storm is more intense than usual so the city is on high snow alert. The unplanned "snow day" made it feel like a holiday and we were amazed how many people were out walking and X-C skiing through the neighborhoods of SW Portland.

Because our nordic gear wasn't available we decided to take a snow hike to Hillsdale Brewery & Pub using a mix of neighborhood streets and urban trails. Our route included a short descent through a wooded trail I'd never traveled connecting Fairmount to SW18th on our way there and then returning along the scenic and steep SW Trail #6 to Fairmount on our return.


The Hillsdale Brewery & Public House



We were amazed to arrive at the Hillsdale Pub and find it packed with other winter walkers, hikers, skiers and sledders.

Our server seemed overwhelmed but quickly warmed to us when we told him we were in no hurry. Service was excellent despite the crowd; people were constantly coming and going while we were there.

The Hillsdale Pub is small, cozy and a part of Oregon brewing history. It was the first McMenamin establishment with on premises brewing. I recently saw it in OPB's The Oregon Experience episode called "Beervana" documenting the history of Oregon brewing and the rise of modern craft brewing. Definitely a documentary worth watching if you love Oregon's brewing phenomenon.

Debbie had her seasonal favorite, Red Riser IRA, to accompany her very delicious tuna salad sandwich. I had a beer ladder starting with the Pounder Porter (a session beer with 3.9ABV and more like a brown ale than a porter) and finishing with the very satisfying Anticipation Stout on nitro. I had the house special sandwich, a grilled cheesesteak sandwich on a perfect baguette, which was amazing. The sweet potato fries were possibly the best I've ever had.

The Pub is clearly a well-loved neighborhood meeting place in the best tradition of McMenamin's establishments. It's clearly another benefit of living in the close in SW Portland neighborhoods.

Cheers!

Fanno Creek Greenway Trail and McMenamins Greenway Pub

Mode: Urban Hike
Start and Finish: Tualatin Hills Garden Home Recreation Center
Route: Out and back.
Distance: 10.9 miles

Fanno Creek Greenway Trail

Level paved trail that mostly meanders through local neighborhoods  in a narrow greenway along Fanno Creek and its surrounding wetlands. Short connecting walks along roads and an overpass crossing OR217 at Denny Road and a few busy street crossings along the way. Saw a Great Blue Heron fishing in a pond behind an industrial park on Allen Blvd. The trail has lots of walkers, runners and bikers on some segments and is very quiet in others. The Greenway Trail features a Frisbee golf course that is an easy walk from the pub offering another potential pub outing.

McMenamin's Greenway Pub

This Pub is a complete sleeper. Located in a strip mall off a busy suburban highway, I was completely stunned when I walked through the doors. It is surprisingly large, with a warm wood-paneled feel typical of a McMenamin's establishment. The Pub has a large gameroom with two large billiard tables and two large shuffleboard tables.

The most striking thing about the Greenway Pub, however, are its two spectacular saltwater aquariums. These create an inviting peaceful feel to the booths surrounding them and will definitely be a reason to return to this location.

I had the pulled pork sliders and a pint of Red Riser IRA, the recently released seasonal that is absolutely delicious. This is one of McMenamin's best brews in my opinion.

When I got my Passport stamped, the friendly server was surprised to hear that I had never been there before. He noted that it was deceiving from the outside and I offered that I had driven by thousands of times but never stopped in. He then told me an interesting part of McMenamin history. The Greenway, fortuitously the second stop on my adventure, was the second pub that the McMenamin's opened. When the pub opened in 1983, the area was still largely undeveloped and the pub was a hangout for bikers (not the pedal kind). As the neighborhood grew up around it, the pub clientele changed similar to the transformation of Raleigh Hills Pub, and perhaps a trend throughout the growing and evolving McMenamin kingdom.

There and back again.

I guess I should begin at the beginning. I first learned of the McMenamin's Passport via a Facebook post. I was immediately swept away by the idea of visiting each and every outpost of the Other Magic Kingdom, something that I always had a mind to do, but now McMenamin's had given me a structure and were providing rewards for doing it.

Since my days as a Boy Scout I have always reveled in earning badges, accruing certifications, and checking the box on completed achievements. This was a challenge I was ripe to accept. So a few days later I saddled off to my local McMenamin's, The Raleigh Hills Pub, to purchase my Passport.

I probably first visited Raleigh Hills Pub in 1988, some time shortly after buying my first house in the nearby Bridlemile neighborhood. The Pub looked quite unlike today except for the signature "double pyramid" roofline. It was more of a local bar than a pub in those days, smoke-filled and a little seedy.

I had moved to Portland the previous year and had just discovered the joy of brewpubs and craft brewing after enduring four years of twenty-five cent Lone Star longnecks and Shiner Bock in the Republic of Texas. I much preferred the active brewing and smoke free environment of the Bridgeport brew pub, and after a few visits I gave up on Raleigh Hills Pub for many years.

Inevitably things changed, the Raleigh Hills Pub became smoke free and had a major facelift. The footprint of the bar was moved centrally, and a rustic post and beam divider surrounded it. A great deck and outdoor beer garden was added, and local families and sports clubs became to meet there. Raleigh Hills Pub became a neighborhood gathering place as a good pub should be. On the other side of the West Hills, however, the NW warehouse district became the "Pearl," and the old rope factory that housed the Bridgeport Brewpub, once a meeting place for dart throwing, fleece wearing, beer lovers, became a fancy urban bistro for recent LA arrivals. I haven't been back.

Raleigh Hills is my McMenamin's home, and my McMenAdventure basecamp. The adventure begins there, and will likely end there, so like Mr. Baggins I will venture "there and back again."

Starting the Adventure

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.” 

― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

This is the beginning of a whimsical adventure to try to complete my McMenamin's Passport in 2014. As I considered the task I thought to myself why not start a blog about it? Why not call it "My McMenAdventure?"

Then a brilliant idea followed, maybe I should add some physical activity to counteract all the calories from the beer that will inevitably be tasted? Why not combine two of my favorite leisure activities, outdoor exercise and drinking craft beer? If I'm going to travel to all the McMenamin's Pubs, Hotels and Breweries in 2014, perhaps I should find some hikes or bike some routes along the way? I could hike or bike in the morning, or afternoon, or even all day and then celebrate the conclusion of my adventures in one of the destinations of the Other Magic Kingdom.

 So this blog will detail my McMenAdventures of 2014. A man, a Mini Cooper, some bikes and boots, and a thirst for adventure...