Dog Mountain 5/10/11

Since the forecast for 5/10/11 and 5/11/11 called for sunny, warm weather, I decided to take those days off from work and go hiking one of those days. As the time got closer, it looked like Tuesday would be the better of the two days.

The hike I chose was Dog Mountain, on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. Normally I avoid that hike because of the massive crowds, especially as it nears peak flowering time. Since it was a Tuesday pre-peak flowering, I figured it would be safe. My hope was to get some good exercise, some good views and some good pictures of the pre-flower explosion.

Since there is alot of poison oak along the lower portion of the trail, I decided to leave the dogs, Buddy and Timmy at home. Dogs do not seem to be affected by poison oak, but the urushiol oil that causes rashes would get on their fur and then transfer to me and other things that I might touch. However, leaving them at home when I go on a hike is a sensitive issue. They know what hiking gear is and if they see me load it into the car then leave without them, they have something to say about it. My plan was to put them in the dog run, then quietly load the gear. It worked. They thought I was going to work as usual.

When I got to the trailhead at 7:30, there was only one other car there. The wind was brisk and the sun was shining. I decided to take the new (not really new, but newer than the old) trail to the top. All along the trail there were many varieties of wildflowers blooming and signs that the famous Dog Mountain wildflower explosion would happen in about two weeks. Even though I was a little too soon for that, I was not disappointed in the flowers that I did see.

What I was disappointed in was the weather. The higher I got, the windier and cloudier it got. My estimate is that the wind was a constant 30+ mph. The temperature was such that I could see my breath. Good thing I brought a windbreaker, hat and gloves.

Due to the weather conditions, I did not feel the need to go the last 0.1 mile to the true summit at 2920'. Instead, I continued on to meet up with the Augspurger Mt. trail to finish the hike as a true loop. To my surprise, there seemed to be more of a variety of flowers on that trail then up on the open meadows of Dog Mt.

All told, the hike was 6.7 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2800'. The whole time I only came across two people.

When I got back home, I let the dogs out of the dog run, then proceeded to unload the hiking gear out of the car onto the deck. They had a betrayed look as if to say, "Wait a minute. You went on a hike and didn't take us." I gave then a treat and they forgot about the whole thing.

Brad

Here is a link to the Dog Mountain pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/72157626695051158/detail/

Brad's Flickr photo sets:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/

Snowshoeing Silver Star 4/30/11

On Saturday, April 30th, my friend Chris and I packed up our gear and the dogs and headed out to snowshoe to the top of 4390' Silver Star Mountain. I had read a recent posting online that the Grouse Vista trailhead at 2375' was accessible.

The road to the trailhead was almost entirely clear of snow. Even vehicles with low clearance made it there. There we were met by the largest group of people I have ever seen there. I think they were a group of Mazamas. And I thought that the snow would thin out the crowds.

We all headed up the Grouse Vista Trail. The very start of the trail was clear of snow, which then gave way to patches of snow that could be walked on with just our boots. Soon there came a point where snowshoes were necessary. If we had not strapped our snowshoes on, we would have been "postholing" up to our waist. We broke the trail most of the rest of the way to the top. Many of the snow drifts we had to cross were 45+ degree angles.

Just before reaching the top of Silver Star Mt., we ran into Portland Hiker's own Don Nelson and a friend Jamie. Portland Hiker is a popular website for hikers in the Portland metro area. Meeting Don was almost like meeting a rock star, as I have been in awe of many of Don's trip reports. They were heading over to Sturgeon Rock and asked us to take a picture of them over there from Silver Star.

Sturgeon Rock is a rock formation 207' lower than Silver Star Mt. with a difficult-in-summer goat trail to the top. I've been to the peak of Sturgeon Rock in summer when the ground is dry and I'm not wearing awkward snowshoes. The peak is only a couple of feet wide with death fall cliffs on two sides. Obviously, the word agoraphobia is not in their vocabulary. Amazing.

After summiting Silver Star Mt., we decided to take the loop back on the Tarbell Trail. Rather than backtracking a bit to get to the Tarbell Cutoff, we took a shortcut off trail through the woods. We both know that area well, so there was no danger in getting lost. In three directions are trails, while the other direction is Sturgeon Rock. Plus Chris has a GPS.

Let me tell you, going downhill in the snow is much easier than going uphill. We soon ran into the large group of Mazamas, who had the good fortune of following in the tracks we had just broken.

Even though snowshoeing is much more difficult than hiking, there is something to be said for getting some strenuous exercise. The sense of accomplishment garnered from doing something very few people have done is amazing.

In all the trip was 8.3 miles round trip with a total elevation gain of over 1700'. Next up...?

Enjoy,
Brad

Link to 4/30/11 Silver Star Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N ... 493635041/

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Link to Brad's Flickr photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/