A View of the Portland Harbor From Mock's Crest, 2009

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About twelve years ago, me and the Brown Eyed Girl were enjoying a mid-summer day on the lip of the bluff that is crowned by the University of Portland - a summit known as Mock's Crest.

It's almost a perfect semicircle. It can be pretty easily identified if you find North Willamette Blvd west of North Greeley Avenue; it clings to most, but not all, of the cliff's top. The remainder is the UP property.

It offers a wonderful view of Mock's Bottom and the lagoon that, at one time, was the man channel of the Willamette River back wen Swan Island was still an island and, not coincidentally, part of Swan Island itself. 

The picturesque sweep of Portland from many angles is what makes me come back to this sort of space again and again and again.

The water is the Swan Island Lagoon and the opposite bank is the north side of the Swan Island peninsula. The Island has gone through many changes; originally a true island, with the main river channel on the north side, it was levelled and graded and connected to the bank with fill and became Portland's airport during the 2nd quarter of the 20th Century. An ill-starred thing, this, as a mere few year after going into operation, aircraft needed landing strips that were bigger and longer than it could provide. The international airport moved out to the northeast side of town, along the Columbia, and Swan Island became Portland's industrial and marine terminal heart. 

In the distance, the Fremont Bridge and downtown Portland, about four miles away from this POV, complete the tableau. An incomparable profile.