Season 6 . Hike # 13 - Dog Mountain

 Season 6 . Hike # 13 - Dog Mountain

Starting Location: Parking Lot off Hwy 14

Point of Interest : Views of Gorge, wildflowers

Distance: about 6 miles (3 up and down)

Difficulty: difficult due to steepness

Bathrooms: Yes. 2 pit toilets at start of trail

Parking: about 70 spots in gravel lot, permit required

EV Chargers: no

Dogs OK? yes, on leash

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This hike was to celebrate my daughter's 30th birthday. Lots of friends and family came camping, and also on this hike. 

We camped at Big Cedars Campground in nearby Willard, Washington. It had a large group camping area that came in handy for our large group. It was close enough to get to Dog Mountain, and far enough to be secluded.

We had been practicing for this hike, which we heard is difficult and steep. 

It is.

I think I heard someone say, right as we passed the restrooms onto the trail itself, "Is the whole trail like this?"

It is.

The trail is well maintained, and pretty wide in most areas, but overall, it is steep. We needed to take plenty of breaks to rest and catch our breath. This is normal, but then we watch people hike by us with kids (or dogs) in backpacks, without stopping.

Our group had made it clear before we started, that it was okay to be slow, or even to turn back, if needed. That being said, we started off. My wife and I were the only old people (59 and 60) in our group of mostly 30 somethings. We fell behind, but usually caught up while they were resting.

At some point roughly halfway up, the trail splits into the "Difficult" and the "More Difficult" trails. You can see which one we chose. 

This was a Saturday Morning of Memorial Day weekend, and there were a lot of people hiking, but it never felt overcrowded, probably due to the permits needed to park.

The lower part of the trail is through this lovely forest, with occasional glimpses of the Columbia River and Gorge.

There are a lot of switchbacks on the Dog Mountain trail. Good thing, too. The corners make nice spacious places to rest out of the way of other hikers.

Eventually, we came out of the forest into an open space. Not the top yet. But there were great views of the Columbia River and Gorge.

This is also a good place to turn around if the trail is getting tough. You have a good view, you are able to see some of the wildflowers on the hills, and you've made it this far. A few of our group did turn back here, but the rest of us kept on.

Because of our stopping frequently to rest, the trail seems longer. We also fell farther behind our group, but we were not in a hurry. We also knew that eventually, we have to come back down, so we didn't want to tire ourselves.

The higher we got, the more flowers filled the meadows and hillsides. These pictures don't do them justice. They are everywhere. The yellow flowers stand out more, but there are also purple and red mixed in.

Finally! We come out to another level-ish spot, and are treated to a great view of the Gorge. We can even see the tip of Mt. Hood peeking over the hills on the Oregon side of the river.

That's when you realize that you're not at the top yet. A short climb later, and this is the view of the trail. Still a ways to go.

Also, this is a good time to mention the wind. Remember, we are in the Gorge, which is famous for strong winds. Well, they come right up the hill on this stretch of trail, where there are no trees to slow it down. I almost lost my hat. 

The lower part of the trail I was in a t shirt, but I added the long sleeves when we got to the view point, and my rain jacket when we got to this section. I almost lost my hat here too.

The view here is breath-taking, so our frequent stops allowed us to enjoy the views of the river, gorge, mountains, and flowers.

Eventually, we finally did make it to the end of the trail. We rested, stretched, had some snacks, took pictures, and just enjoyed the accomplishment of making it to the top.

By the way, we took our dog, too. There were quite a few dogs on this trail, which is okay if they are on a leash, which all of the dogs I saw were. You really don't want your dog running down the hills here anyway.

What goes up, must come down. However, going down a steep trail is almost worse than going up. I took my walking sticks out for this downhill journey, and tried to stay out of the way of the faster hikers, including runners, who passed us going downhill.

It took us a long time, with lots of stops to finally get to the bottom. Seeing this restroom was relieving, since we had passed it about 6 hours before.

We were the last ones in our group off the trail, which was expected. 

Our post hike meal was roasted hot dogs over the campfire. After a nap, of course.

As I write this 2 days later, I have some sore muscles, but nothing out of the ordinary. I was worried about my feet having blisters, but thankfully have none. 

It's a difficult hike, but doable if you are in decent shape, and ready to go slow and steady.