Columbia River Trail

After visiting the farmers market on Saturday we decided to go check out the Riverfront trail.  It actually goes along the canal more than the river, but it was still really pretty.  Drew had ran the trail the day before for his workout but it was fun to walk the trail together as a family and take the time to stop and look for animals with Alden.

It was the perfect day to walk the trail because the temperature was very moderate, for Columbia at least.  It was overcast for a a lot of the day so that kept it fairly cool and there was also a nice breeze for  lot of the walk.  The trail is 2.5 miles one way, so Drew and I walked five miles and Alden probably walked around 1, since he rode in the stroller for a lot of the walk.  Anders just enjoyed riding and napping in the stroller.

I really enjoyed walking the trail and being outside without melting from the heat.  I am really glad that we took the time to go walk the trail and enjoy the pretty views and see the neat animals that live in the canal and river.

This is the view of the canal that the trail follows.

 There were places where the strip of land between the canal and river was narrow enough that we had a nice view of the river too.

 We saw lots of neat birds along the trail.  At one point we could see geese, a heron and egrets in the river.  Alden loved helping us look for animals as we walked and loved stopping to watch them for awhile.

 It was a beautiful day!

 We saw a ton of turtles on our walk.  There were lots of turtles sitting on logs, sunning themselves, in the canal and if you looked closely you could find them swimming around in the water too.

 This is what you get to at the end of the trail.

 Anders got a nice nap in the stroller while we walked.

 Alden was excited to see more turtles near the end of the canal.

 Alden looking for more turtles in the water.

 At the end of the trail you can see this dam in the river.

 Alden had fun looking for more turtles as we walked back along the trail.

 It was a very pretty trail that I really enjoyed walking.

 Alden was really excited to see the "train bridge" but he really wanted to know why we couldn't see a train on it.

 You need to cross a bridge at the very end to get back across the canal to the parking lot and Alden wanted to stop and throw rocks into the water.  So, we let him choose 4 rocks to throw in and he was really happy!

 He loves throwing rocks in the water and watching them splash...I can't say that I understand it but it is cute.

This was a really fun family outing and I am glad that we took the time to do it!