#13: Dog Mountain

Completed: 5/30/11
Difficutly: Strenuous
Time: 3.5 hours
Length: 6.9 miles
Rating: 4 stars

Hello again, nature! It sure has been awhile...

Here's a quick update/excuse as to why we haven't been hiking as much lately. MEGAN GOT A JOB!!!
She is using her higher education and working at OHSU, or the hospital on the hill, as a pediatric dietitian. It's been about 2 months of work now, and it's going great for her! But with this new Monday through Friday, 9-5 kind of schedule, it has taken away from our time to get out hiking. Saturday has become the only day to plan a hike around during the week, so our window of opportunity is much more limited now. Because of this, we have amended our hiking goal of completing all 60 hikes from our book this year and have stretched it out to a two year attempt.

Happy Memorial Day!

With that said, a real job comes with real holidays, and we found that we had plenty of time on Memorial Day Monday to get out for a hike! The only problem was that half of Portland was thinking the same thing as us... Ok, it wasn't that bad, but this parking lot to the trailhead probably featured as many cars as all our previous parking lots have, combined. On top of us deciding to hike on Memorial Day, we also chose one of the most well known hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, Dog Mountain in Washington. We anticipated the crowds and tried to get out the door as early as possible. The lot was well on it's way to filling up when we arrived, and there was about a 40 person group huddled together and ready to tackle the hike just about the same time as us, but we had an ace up our sleeve. While there is only one Dog Mountain trail, there is a second trail that loops up to the summit of Dog Mountain. It is about a half mile longer, which makes it a little less intense of an incline, but the author of our guide book, Paul, says it is much less crowded and it is his preferred/recommended approach.

up and up and up and up

Guided by Paul, we started up the Augsperger Mountain trail in pursuit of the Dog summit. And up, and up, and up we went. The trail lived up to it's reputation of being one of the toughest trails in the Gorge. It climbs nearly 3,000 ft in less than 4 miles! Hamilton Mountain gained 2,000 ft in 4.5 miles and we thought that was strenuous...

The only other moving creature we saw for
 the majority of our ascent...a giant slug

Thanks to Paul though, the intense climbing was accompanied by a lack of crowds which let us focus on how bad our quads were burning as opposed to negotiating narrow trails filled with hikers. It also let us focus on the mud, which was in abundance as we neared the top. The freshly melted snow has left some sticky and muddy trails in spots where the sun can't dry it up, and about a mile from the summit our shoes got a bit of a mud bath. Megan said that the mud was a welcome change, because she was so focused on not slipping and falling that she was no longer paying attention to the burn in her quads left over from the steepest parts of the trail.



At just shy of 3,000 feet, Dog Mountain can unleash some spectacular views of the Gorge. Of course, spring time in the Portland area can do plenty to ruin those views, even on a day forecasted with a high of 63 and partly sunny. The sun was here to stay starting around 1 pm, but there were no promises made during any time before that. We emerged from the wooded section, and were amazed to find our position and the view over the Gorge and Wind Mountain...

Now you see me...

Now you don't!

And then it all disappeared...

Wait, I'm back!

But a minute later, it was back again! I have never seen clouds move that fast.












The views along the top came and went as fast as the clouds did. We rested and ate some lunch at the summit and were entertained to watch the excitement and disappointment wash over the faces of new hikers reaching it's peak, synchronized to the motion of the clouds blowing through the gorge. The summit filled up quickly, reminding ourselves how glad we were to have taken the less crowded path. We started our way down, this time on the Dog Mountain Trail, passing the massive group we saw in the parking lot about 15 minutes from the summit (which further cemented that climbing up Augsperger Mountain Trail was the right choice for today). This time of year has Dog Mountain covered in wildflowers, and it really is a sight to see. It adds some refreshing color to the land and really makes Dog Mountain feel alive.

Balsamroot

Puppy Point

The trek down was steep, and once again we were reminded of the burn the ascent had given our quads. We passed a number of hikers trying to make it up, most of whom were more than ready to use us passing as an excuse to take a little rest. I was impressed with the number of families out to conquer Dog Mountain that day. Kids as young as 7 or 8 were tackling the hike, some with more enthusiasm than their parents. The sun broke out as we were nearing the bottom, and the day began to warm significantly. On our drive home we enjoyed an apple and a stop at the drive-thru espresso stand. It's amazing how fast an iced coffee can make all your pains go away.