#12 - Catherine Creek

Date: 4/6/11

Time: ?

Distance: ~4miles

Difficulty: Moderate

Stars: 4 stars

Mt. Hood

Sunny days are few and far between during the Portland springtime, so when it does come out, you try to take advantage. In honor of Mr. Sun we opted for a hike with some of the best views in the gorge, and we made our way out to Catherine Creek in Washington. 

Catherine Creek is located just a little further up the rode from another hike we had already completed, The Labyrinth, so we had an idea of what the terrain would be like. Along with some big, wide open views, Catherine Creek is known for the wildflowers that sprawl along it's hillside. Our guide, Paul, says that is what brings him back every year. 

The hike has a figure 8 pattern option to it that comes up below a ridge line featuring "the arch" travels high along the hillside, then comes back down and finishes on top of that ridge. It was great to hike past "the arch" and take in it's form, then come back along on top of it and get a close up experience of what it is.

"The Arch"

Now on top of  "The Arch"

My favorite part of this hike was walking up along the hillsides. The elevation isn't great, but there is very little forest cover on the entire hike, so you have a full view of the gorge almost 100% of the time. And on a nice sunny day like we had, it was impressive.

As we topped out on the hillside, we entered the very small amount of forested area on the hike. It wasn't even 100 yards long, but it had a steep hillside to it. It was steep enough that we couldn't see exactly what was over it's ridge, but we got the impression it was an open area. We just didn't know how wide open it would actually be...

...it was WIDE open. The open hillsides of Catherine Creek have been unique compared to most hikes we have done in the gorge, and that is what has made it one of my favorites so far. Plus, the views of Mt. Hood are spectacular