Dog Mountain, Columbia River Gorge

dereksurfs

Here are some photos from the first hike of our vacation to the PNW. Dog Mountain was blooming very nicely while other areas such Rowena had faded. This hike is steeper and gains more elevation (3000') than the other areas known for wildflowers in the Gorge. It was a great workout for my 10 y/o son and I - well worth for the beautiful sweeping views.















The mountain was carpeted with these balsamroot flowers:

Roaddog 52

Some great images. I really like the 2nd one, a nice close-up and really gives an accurate portrayal of just how steep it actually is up there on Dog Mountain.

Travel

Great shots!

Doug Solis

Beautiful shots Derek. I climbed up Tom Mcall hill about two weeks ago and most of the flowers were past their peak. I heard about Dog Mt but opted not to hike it because we had solid rain for 5 days and I really wanted to catch a sunrise or set from up there. Actually the real reason was it just sounded too damn hard of a hike. lol
How long did it take you if you recall?

Stella7d

Wow, such breathtaking beauty!!

Eia

Greatimages. I personally like 2 and 4. I appreciate the landscape/perspective in the 4th!

LightMagic

Beautiful set. Makes one want to go there ...

dereksurfs

Thanks all, I was glad to be able to capture a reminder of this beautful place in photos.

Doug, I know what you mean. After reading the trail description as 'strenuous' I debated taking my 10 y/o son up there. But then I thought wait a minute. He is already at the point of starting to surpass me when it comes to hiking endurance. So I decided to give it a go and we were both very glad we did after seeing the views. However we had done some training in the steeps of Big Sur before doing this hike which really paid off. We got there in the AM and there were only a few cars. Then once we reached the flower fields we met a somewhat older photographer gentleman who it turns out was enjoying his first day of retirement hiking this mountain! Oh, and he was on his way down already since he started at sunrise. Geesh, I thought, I hope I can do this sort of thing when I'm his age.

Its hard for me to remember exact times because we stopped for photo sessions along the way to the top and on the way back as well. But I will say that it took less time than I had thought. I was estimating 3 hours up based upon the elevation gain and need for breaks, etc... I'm thinking we did it in ~ 2 hours, then of course less on the way down after eating a snack and enjoying a view from the top.