History of the Portland Barefoot Hikers

PBH was founded by David Opperman, who wanted to form a local group of like-minded barefooters to enjoy the sensual variety of ground textures that comes from going barefoot. He was in the formative stages of the group in January 1996 when Kyle Martin sent an inquiry. Another local contact, Donny Cameron, came on-board soon thereafter. David envisioned the group to be loose, informal, with no dues. David developed an info-flyer and wrote a small article that was posted at www.barefooters.org/hikers. PBH became the fifth oldest barefoot hiking group in the United States.

The first hike occurred in April 1996 at Tryon Creek State Park (in SW Portland) with David and Kyle attending. Despite the cool temperatures and wet trail, the hike was a success. David offered hikes around the Portland area -- mostly in Forest Park -- from April through October. Kyle posted flyers at Reed College and Lewis-and-Clark College to solicit potential recruits. By July 1996, six people were regulars, plus guests. By May 1998, PBH could claim 15 regular members -- this would be the peak. A typical hike had four to ten participants -- mostly men -- but PBH was open to all. There was even a reporter from KPDX-TV, the local Fox affiliate at the time, that came out on a hike in 2001, barefoot, to conduct an interview of the PBH.

Without warning, David dropped his leadership role after the end of the 2001 hiking season. It is not known to this day why David dropped out of sight, but it is likely that he became burned out after organizing and leading hikes for six years. So, Kyle stepped forward to assume the leadership role starting in the 2002 hiking season. The number of hikers had shrunk to a core of four people. Despite the low number of hikers, Kyle expanded the offerings for hiking trails and included more urban trails. Some of the past trails started to see more gravel patches and became less barefoot friendly.

Kyle led for three hiking seasons, stepped down October 2004, and compiled the PBH history. Donny and Alfredo Torrejon will "carry the torch" in the 2005 hiking season. Alfredo will work on a new web-site to advertise the PBH. Thus, a new chapter of PBH history begins....

1996

• April 13 -- Tryon Creek State Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the vistors' center at 10:00AM for their first hike.
• August 10 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 10:00AM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• August 24 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the 53^rd Drive (Birch) trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• September 10 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.

1997

• May 18 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the 53^rd Drive trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• September 17 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• October 19 -- Powell Butte. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at 3:00PM and hiked the trails at Powell Butte.

1998

• April 19 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Germantown Road trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• May 17 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• June 28 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• July 26 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• August 23 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Germantown Road trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• September 19 -- First end-of-season celebration. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at Noho's Hawaiian Cafe (2525 SE Clinton St. in Portland) for an end-of-season dinner. Although the original plans were to find outdoor seating, the waitress encouraged our group to dine inside. Because of its barefoot-friendly atmosphere, Noho's was selected for several other end-of-year celebrations.

1999

• April or May (exact date unknown) -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Germantown Road trailhead in the afternoon for the first hike of the year.
• June 13 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• July 25 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• There were other hikes in 1999, but records of these events are not available.

2000

• Records of early 2000 hikes are not available at this time.
• August 13 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• September 17 -- Powell Butte. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at 3:00PM and hiked the trails at Powell Butte.
• September 24 -- End of Year Lunch. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at Noho's Hawaiian Cafe in Portland at 1:00PM.

2001

• May 20 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• July 15 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Germantown Road trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• August 19 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.

2002

• June 23 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail. This was the beginning of Kyle Martin's leadership of the group.
• July 21 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Germantown Road trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• August 18 -- Powell Butte. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at 3:00PM and hiked the trails at Powell Butte.
• September 15 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Germantown Road trailhead at 2:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail. After the hike, the group re-convened at Kyle Martin's home for an end-of-year potluck dinner.

2003

• The Portland Barefoot Hikers put together its first website in order to help get the word out about upcoming hikes. Previously, contact information for David Opperman was provided at www.barefooters.org, but the only way to find out about upcoming events was through our mailing list. This website was very short-lived, since Internet Arena, the company that hosted the site went out of business at the end of July. The Portland Barefoot Hikers would be without their own webpage until 2005.
• May 18 -- Mt. Tabor/Hawthorne Blvd. urban trek. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at SE Hawthorne and 34th Ave at 3:00PM for a walk up Mount Tabor. The group stopped at a cafe after the hike for refreshments.
• June 22 -- South and North Park blocks/ Waterfront Park in Downtown Portland. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the PSU campus at 3:00PM and hiked through Downtown Portland to Waterfront Park. The group stopped at the Taste of Bali restaurant for an after-hike dinner.
• July 27 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• August 17 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Germantown Road trailhead at 3:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood Trail.
• September 20 -- Wetlands Trail. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Water Resources Education Center in Vancouver, Washington. This hike included the Wetlands trail and a walk up the Columbia River north coast. After the hike, the group visited the museum at the Water Resources Education Center.

2004

• April 25 -- Couch Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at Couch Park (NW 19^th Ave. and NW Glisan in Portland) at 3:00PM.
• June 20 -- Forest Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Birch trailhead at 1:00PM and hiked a section of the Wildwood trail.
• July 18 -- Columbia River Gorge/Old Scenic Highway. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met in Tigard at 1:00 PM and travelled to Multnomah Falls. The trip included hikes on two trails and visits to a variety of attractions, such as Vista House, Latourell Falls, Sheppards Dell Falls, and Multnomah Falls.
• August 22 -- Kelly Point Park. The Portland Barefoot Hikers visited Kelly Point Park.
• September 26 -- The Portland Barefoot hikers travelled to Northwest to hike Kelly Point Park. The hike included a stop at Ole Ole Restaurant and a scenic hike in the wooded trails and a scenic walk to the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
• October 10 -- Banks-Vernonia Trail. The Portland Barefoot Hikers met at the Manning trailhead at 2:00PM and hiked a section of the Banks-Vernonia Trail. After-hike refreshments were at a local Dairy Queen ice cream parlor.

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