Four cheers for the 4T Loop

Hiking is one of my favorite pastimes.

When I began the Just Lose It! program, I originally planned to do one long hike every weekend to supplement the hourlong cardio sessions I do Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, plus the interval training I do Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Better late than never.

Today was my first hike, and one of my best friends Tamara Young came along. Tamara and I have known each other for almost 12 years. She’s an entrepreneur with a photography business and a soon-to-open consignment shop, creatively titled Consign Couture.

Tamara and I decided we wanted to do an urban hike in Portland. I heard someone talking about a trek that’s all the rage lately, and it took us a little while to figure it out but thanks to the magic of Google and some help from our Facebook friends, we discovered the 4T Loop.

4T is code for Trail, Tram, Trolly and Train. Check out the map here: Clickity click click.

It all started at the Oregon Zoo. The first leg was the trail, which left the zoo and wound through the West Hills of Portland. The path took us through Council Crest, and as we took in the view, I realized this was an infamous makeout spot from high school. I hadn’t been up here since I was maybe 17. And I’m not sure I’d ever been here during the day.

The end of the first leg of the 4T is surreal. You find yourself walking up a forest hill, and before you know it you see at multi-story building through the trees. And what is this tall building doing on the edge of the forest? It’s the backside of Oregon Health & Science University. No shit!

This brings us to the second leg of the trail: The Tram.

This was the first time either Tamara or I have rode the tram, which was built in 2006. When I first moved back to Portland two years ago I couldn’t believe they built this $57 million spectacle and I’d never heard of it (I also couldn’t believe that until today I hadn’t ridden it).

If you’re just going down, it’s free. That’s something I want the ladies to know as well.

Tamara was terrified of the tram as we boarded, and she sat down in the back and tried to keep her cool. I saw the frightened look on her face and decided I wouldn’t make fun of her right then. Instead, I decided later on to publicly humiliate her in my blog.

After the tram, there are two more legs of the 4T Loop. But we found ourselves in the South Waterfront District, and decided to grab some dinner at Soho Sushi, right next to the base of the tram. Afterward, we caught the trolly, which takes you into the heart of downtown Portland, and then the train, which takes you back to the Oregon Zoo.

I chose to stand up on the last two legs of the 4T, because I wasn’t convinced the five-mile hike that started this adventure was enough of a workout. But I was just glad to get a hike in. Finally.

Food Journal (click to view):
Breakfast: Oatmeal with scoop of whey protein, dried cranberries, milk
Snack: Hard-boiled egg with pomegranate Greek yogurt (12 grams sugar)
Lunch: Soho sushi roll and St. Helen’s sushi roll at Soho Sushi
Snack: Progresso Chicken & Wild Rice soup
Dinner: Grilled chicken and apple