There was a trail portion under construction by volunteers from WTA. The hardest worker was Rod; just ask him. 😀

There was plenty of spice including small ice boulders, snow melt washout crossings, mini landslides, and lots of large fresh blowdown trees. Most of the trail was covered in ice or compressed snow. Strongly recommend cleats and trekking poles.

Hiked the Cape Horn Trail with friends and my pooch, Buddy Boy on Oct 5, 2023. This was my second time hiking this trail. The first time was ten years ago on October 15, 2013, not long after the trail was first opened. On that hike we did the full loop trail which is approximately 7.5 miles long. On todays hike however, we took a shortcut that begins from an unmarked pullout on Highway 14. From the pullout, it was an easy walk to the main trail and saved a few miles of switch backs. The upper trail has three main vista points with amazing views of the Columbia River Gorge. Without a doubt, this is a must-do hike for anyone looking for a memorable and challenging hiking experience in the Pacific Northwest.

I've been waiting for the right day to hike this, and today was it. It really is beautiful, although a little too popular for my taste.

Turned out to be a good thing, since I broke my arm shortly after the Nancy Russell overlook, and made the bad decision to continue forward instead of turning back (tripped on a root, nothing wrong with the trail). Fortunately, a couple of other women on the trail kindly helped me with the tougher spots. 

Without the injury, it wouldn't have been too demanding, just reasonable caution. Oh, and theres one bridge with broken boards, so watch for it.

Previous trip report from 7/20 is awesome so just adding a few additional points to consider:

1) The loop is great but if strapped for time you can just go to the first lookout and head back.

2) If you slightly less strapped for time then I would strongly encourage going back down and heading over to Cape Horn Falls. Especially this time of year they are like a luxury shower of cool water on a hot day :)

3) And if you are somewhere between 1 and 2, then you could hike the top part but then drive down to the landing and hike to the falls from there.

- And of course the entire loop is great, too!

I did the loop and it came out as 6.8 miles with 1,575 feet of gain fwiw