NEAR ST. HELENS, Ore. — It's a hot September afternoon as I set off running past farm fields into the woods on Sauvie Island, which lies at the meeting of the Columbia and Willamette rivers.
It's a perfect trail for running with 60-year-old knees, the forest floor soft with leaves and pine needles. The gentle path offers views of the vast Columbia River.
After a day of work, I love finding places like this, where I can turn off my brain and just move and breathe. On this day, I stumble across an unexpected delight: blackberry thickets so dense I have to dodge the thorns as I run.
The fruit is perfectly ripe, berries hanging thick and dark. I pick and eat, then run a little, but again and again the berries tempt me to slow down and snack.
Finally I run on, my fingers stained purple. I can smell the river and the leaf dust of the trail kicked up by my running shoes. Afternoon sun ribbons through the high forest canopy. This island has deep history. It was busy with Multnomah Native villages through the 18th century, communities that were later swept away by European diseases. The American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark also camped nearby on their expeditions in 1805 and 1806.
I come out of the tunnel of trees into a beautiful, open green meadow, the wind blowing through grass. There are wildflowers on every side, tansy and Queen Anne's lace and goldenrod, the bright colors of late summer. This is one of my favorite seasons for running. The heat has mellowed, but it's not quite autumn. Kids are back in school, so the crowds in wild places like this have faded away.
The trail takes me to one more delight: an old lighthouse and a long strand of empty sand beach. A barge rumbles past out on the river; otherwise, it feels private and peaceful. I strip off my running shoes and my sweaty T-shirt and dive in. The cold water feels amazing after the run, and I drift for a long time in the stillness.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/sauvieisland.htm
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