Distance Roundtrip: 6 miles RT
Elevation Gain: 2800 ft.
Highest Elevation: 2948 ft.
Location: Columbia Gorge
Lettering Medium: Watercolor
Images taken with an iPhone6
With the boys lined up for two tee times, my sister-in-law and I opted out (golf. snooze.) and decided it was a great day for wearing the pups out.
After an early breakfast with our MIL we arrived to the trailhead around 10am. It’s a small parking lot and there were rangers enforcing the parking rules. A kind man flagged us down for his spot – thank you! It’s important to park in only designated spots … on our return to the lot we noticed several cars tagged with the word “tow”. That would not be fun to come back to your car gone!
Even though it was a gorgeous day we wore long pants to avoid all the poison ivy and kept our dogs leashed and away from the sides of the trail. We opted to go left at the junction and do the more difficult climb since I’m training for the summer. It’s a straight up calf burner.
At the top the wildflowers are stunning! With the crowds it kind of felt like visiting the Tulip fields in Mt Vernon (go on a weekday if you want some solitude!). We didn’t mind because it was so gorgeous.
We descended via the loop for the Ausberger Mtn to save our knees. It’s a much gentler grade though lots of loose rock.
Back at the car we checked our pups and ourselves for ticks as we’ve heard this trail is full of them. Luckily we were all in the clear! So overall a great day!
