It seemed so harmless in the planning stage. A nice hike on a cool Sunday afternoon in late May in the scenic Columbia Gorge. Sure, I'd heard
Dog Mountain was somewhat of a toughie, and maybe w had mentioned the 3000' elevation gain in 3 miles. What do I know about 3000'....just another stroll in the bosom of Mother Nature, right?
On the way, masking the pain!Wow, what I came to find out was that 'ol Ma Nature is a tough old bitch, and this was an ass-kicker of a hike. And that's before the 40+ mile an hour winds that made this seem more November than May up top. But I've gotta say the views were spectacular, the spring flowers cloaking the hillsides were astonishingly beautiful, and if you can get up there in the next couple of weeks while the flowers are in bloom, you're in for a huge treat. Plenty of water, a couple of sandos, some energy bars, and you'll be set. Besides, it'll only hurt for a little while!
The payoff on top, and SO worth it...wow!Plus, there's always cool refreshment at
Walking Man Brewpub in Stevenson or
Edgefield in Troutdale on the way home!
Something strange happened here in Portland last weekend. Something that hasn't happened seemingly for months. This bright light suddenly appeared, I think they call it the sun? Wanting to take advantage of this strange natural phenomena, w and I immediately made plans for an early season hike. w, who is filled with more local outdoors knowledge in her 10 years here than I have been able to gather in my life being a native Oregonian, suggested a hike to Elowah Falls (that's your correspondent at the bottom of the falls in the pic upper left). I'd been on what I thought was pretty much every waterfall hike in the gorge, but somehow had missed this one. If you have somehow not put this in your hiking repertoire, you need to do it...soon! Two breathtaking falls in a short, easy 3-mile roundtrip. From the trailhead (a mere 35-40 minutes from
downtown PDX) you hike .3 miles to a junction, take the left to Elowah Falls, a stunning 289' high drop down a sheer cliff where you can get right next to it at its base; or go right and head up the trail to an absolutely beautiful split falls called McCord Creek Falls (right). The best part is you can make the whole roundtrip hike in a little over an hour. The next 3 months or so will be prime time to enjoy them with the heavy snow melt that is coming.
