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Hiking "The Dog": Of the many mountains in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, Dog Mountain is one of the most popular, as well as one of the toughest. Widely considered a summer training ground for mountaineers, the parking lot fills up early on weekend days and the trails become bloated with hikers wishing to test the steep trails of the 2,948-foot peak. I was a week away from my first climb of Mount Adams, so I thought Dog Mountain's 2,850 feet of elevation gain over just 3.7 miles would be a perfect training ground. I got off from Portland early, arrived at 7:00 in the morning, and got a head start on the normally large crowds on a beautiful summer day - like that day. The winds were cool, but I quickly warmed up while grinding up the steep trail. The first 2/3 of the trail is mostly in the forest, but you eventually break out onto a cliff-side with tremendous Gorge views and wild flowers growing all around. I was really cruising that day and made it to the summit in about 1-1/2 hours. Not bad for nearly 3,000 feet in elevation gain! The summit provided me with a great view of the Columbia River Gorge, neighboring Mount Defiance (4,960 feet) and Wind Mountain (1,903 feet), the upper peak of Mount Hood and the top of distant Mount St. Helens. It was quite windy on top and I spent only about 20 minutes resting and sight-seeing. The descent took just 25 minutes, as I essentially ran and jogged the entire way down. Heck, it's actually easier on the legs to do this! Many of the hikers coming up were looking at their watches and asking when I started and if I indeed had summitted. Of course, I rubbed it in their faces a bit and said that I got up there in 90 minutes. :) Ironically, many hikers that day actually were accompanied by dogs. Maybe that's where the mountain got its name?! -- Top of Page -- |
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