It was a glorious day on the gorge. We got to the parking lot of Dog Mountain at 8:10Am, there were only 2 other cars on the parking lot. We started the hike at around 8:30AM. We headed towards dog mountain, we followed the trail on the right, this one is the exterior trail, so we got beautiful views of the gorge. We even sat for a quick bite on the bench and enjoyed the views. The trail was in great condition. Beautiful flowers blooming all around, absolutely gorgeous. After we submitted Dog, we went through the Augspurger trail to summit Augspurger Mountain. This part of the trail was heavely overgrown in some areas. We did pass an area where some blowdowns had been cut and moved away from the trail. Thank you so much!!!!
We reached an old mining road?, and here things got a little dicey. This part of the trail was unmarked and little difficult to follow, we went the wrong way and had to backtrack.
We enjoyed complete solitude, everyone else was left behind at Dog, and we didnt see anyone else until we were back at the intersection with Dog trail.
Here are some directions so you know where to go....
Starting at the Dog Mountain Trailhead, take the dog mountain trail on the right,follow the trail till you come to an intersection to the summit of Dog, (if you want to summit dog continue, this will only add .4 miles to your trip). (if you do not want to summit then follow the trail on the left this is the Augspurger trail).
From the summit of Dog, go back down and there will be a trail on your right about .2 of a mile down, this is the Augspurger trail follow it till you reach an interesection, one will take you back to the car, and the other says Augspurger trail. Keep to the right to stay on the Augspurger Trail and go downhill on a smaller, brushy path into a basin. After .6 miles, the trail intersects with an old road. Take a right and head uphill another .6 miles, continuing straight through a four-way junction. When the road takes a hairpin left turn, look for some pink ribbons and a faint trail to your right. Continue on the Augspurger Trail as it climbs and switchbacks through the woods for 1.1 miles until you pop out onto an open ridge. There are powerlines below the ridge and fantastic views down the Gorge. Continue along the ridge and follow the faint trail as it climbs through brush and forest another 1.1 miles to the forested summit of Augspurger Mountain.
The views from Augspurger ridge were amazing. The total loop was about 17 miles with about 6000 feet of elevation gain. Needless to say we were very glad when we reached the parking lot.
All in all it was an awesome hike!!!

Great intermediate level hike. Wildflowers are still in bloom - Yarrow, Queen Ann's ace, Self-Heal, various daisies, Lupine, Indian Paintbrush, Red and White Clover, Hawkweed, Broadleaf Plantain, Common Plantain, etc. Very windy on the last mile to the summit.

Hit the trailhead at 0530. First car. NW Forest Pass required. Yeah, Goldman Sachs can blow up the economy and they get taxpayer money. I gotta pay twice to take a walk.

Took the very steepest route up. 50 deg., clear, and somewhat windy at the flower fields. Balsamroot past its prime (but still some nice specimens), larkspur the same, paintbrush lovely, lupine just coming on.

Took Augspurger down. Still some muddy stretches in that first .2 mile or so, which seems weird to me because the trail is on a little knife-edge ridge and I woulda thought it'd drain off better.

Dog trails were clear of trees. Aug had a few trees down that didn't block the trail completely but impeded traffic a little bit.

Roughly 30 cars at the trailhead when we came out about 11:30.

Dog Mountain is a steep one; but so worth it with the flowers at the peak.

There is plenty of poison oak on the lower slopes, but no rattlesnakes were seen.

The trail was a bit slick due to recent rains, and low cloud cover made for a cold and windy summit. No matter, I pulled on a jacket and hugged the dog for warmth while enjoying the view.

Go early to get a parking place at the trail-head, and expect a crowd. I came down the Augspurger trail and still had plenty of company. Earned myself a well-deserved fishwich at the East Wind Drive-In at Cascade Locks.