Nature Walk, ~1 mi or less to see it all
Minimal elevation gain
'Hiked' 11/2/2023
Back in 2023 I visited the wonderful Portland Japanese Gardens near peak for the Japanese Maple autumn color changes. This is a fantastic Japanese garden filled with various plants, Koi ponds and water features, rock gardens, and a rotating display of artist's works to be viewed. Highly recommended.
A Japanese style building may be seen behind two Maples in full fall coloration, mostly in the orange hue.
A Japanese style rock garden, with a raindrop shaped grass/moss patch in the center surrounded by raked concentric lines. Outside of this, a vibrant fall colored Japanese Maple in shades of orange as well as various green shrubs and trees beyond.
The vibrant orange Japanese Maple that is the main attraction in fall at the garden may be seen on the other side of the pond from where this photo was taken. In the foreground two Sandhill Cranes statues may be seen 'foraging' along the shore of a pond. Much of the surrounding foliage is dark to light green with some yellows, and a few patches of bright orange may also be seen intermittently.
Definitely an amazing garden. None of mine turned out well (blame poor weather on my visit,) but there are some iconic photos of that japanese maple. e.g. Peter Lik's which Ive seen in person at his gallery in Vegas.
I think one of my favorite things about that garden is the climate really encourages mosses and the like to grow which really adds to the atmosphere of it. Downside is sometimes you’ll get bad weather for it. Yeah, there are some really great photos of that maple out there. Gets kind of intimidating when all the photographers are all jockeying for spots there haha.
I got to visit the last time I went to see my dad’s side of the family in Oregon and I realized that the Pacific Northwest probably gives a pretty similar climate to much of Japan. I’ve never been to Japan but had moments where I felt like I was actually there.