Dog Mountain

Today I ventured out into the Columbia Gorge for a short day hike. I crossed the Bridge of the Gods (not sure why it's called that...) and arrived at the Dog Mountain trailhead. This trail is rated "very strenuous" as it is just under 7 miles and gains 3000'. The gain is all on the way up.

First thing I noticed was the wind blowing at about 30mph. It always does this when you're deep into the Gorge. The wind never stops blowing. Never. It can be pretty annoying if you haven't dedicated your life to windsurfing.

Starting off I was a bit tired and stiff from a fast 10K training run I did yesterday, so I was going pretty slow. After about a mile I picked up the pace but in reality the grade probably lessened up so it only seemed like I picked up the pace. I saw a few other hikers on the way up, most of them had trekking poles. Hmm....yup, this trail is steep.

After a couple of miles you come out of the woods and you get an incredible view of the Columbia River. This was really cool. As I was taking in this humbling view my hat almost blew off my head and I was getting cold, and quickly. So I hurriedly put my jacket on and started moving again, with one hand on my head, and the other in my pocket to keep it warm. I did this the rest of the way to the top, switching every so often so I could continue to feel all my fingers.

The rest of the way up is fairly exposed and extremely windy, I would guess gusts of up to 35mph. My watch was showing a temperature of 56ºF, so the windchill was probably between 40-45ºF. Yup. Cold. I got to the top, exchanged a few words with a couple of other hikers clad in wooly hats and Gore-Tex jackets (did I underdress?):

Me: Wow, I didn't know it would be so windy up here!
Them: Yeah, we're freezing. Ha ha ha.

Then I sat down on a small log and ate my chocolate pastry that I had brought all the way from home. Oh my god...it was possibly the best chocolate pastry I've had since Europe. So chocolatey, and flaky, and this particularly flaky pastry (ok, it wasn't actually THAT flaky) had some sort of apricot/cinnamon goop in it that made it extra tasty. I didn't care that the wind was blowing up fine grains of dirt into it. Then I chased it with some super salty potato chips (did I mention how healthy I eat?), drank some water, took some photos, and began my descent.

I sort of half-jogged for awhile, just to get into the trees again and out of the relentless wind. I took a slightly longer way back, so that it would be less steep. But of course, when it's only 1/2 mile longer is it really that much easier? I did get some better pictures on that route down, than the way I came up.

6.8 miles
3000' ascent
3 hours

Click HERE for the rest of the pics.