Parking lot was full when we arrived around 10:30am on Monday. We were able to snag a spot as someone (sunrise hiker perhaps) was leaving. You can purchase a NW day pass at the trailhead. We chose a weekday to avoid the mass crowds and permits on a weekend in wildflower season, but there were still plenty of folks out on the trail!
The trail is unrelenting in steepness, but the dirt path is well-worn and easy to follow. Most of the distance is through the forest. One quick view at puppy dog point, then back to the forest.
Balsam, lupine, paintbrush, flox were all out at the meadow. Incredible views! High effort and high reward.
We stopped before the actual summit and just soaked in the views.
There aren’t tons of places to sit along the meadow, and it’s tempting to leave the trail to get pics among the flowers, however you can see places where folks have trampled a bit off-trail.
The steepness can make the descent a bit slippery, so I encourage using poles and shoes with good tread. Enjoy!

Went on Friday May 2nd, 2025. Arrived to the trailhead at about 230pm and parking lot was 80-ish% full. Got back down around 645pm. There were already signs around the area advertising the shuttle and reminding about permits required on the weekend

This hike is brutal. Steep hiking most of the way up with little relief. Early on you’ll get to a fork in the road and see a sign that says difficult one way and more difficult the other way. We took the difficult route at the same time another couple took the other way. We arrived at the meet up point where the trail connects at the same time.

When you make to the second “puppy” overlook you could happily call it here. But! I would encourage you go all the way, some more good views to be had. Fear not many of the wildflowers are out, but the lupines aren’t quite ready yet.

Hiked on a Thursday and the parking  lot was full by 9:45 am. The yellow balsamroot blanketed the hills near the top of the hike. In two weeks it will be even more beautiful. 

Bring water for your dogs. There are no other water sources. It is windy at the top but the sunshine kept us warm. 

There were 7 cars upon arrival to the TH at 6:30a.

Although the trash can at the TH did not appear to be full, there was trash all over the ground in front of it.  I vowed to pick up the trash when we returned from our hike (trash is at the top of my list of pet peeves).

The outhouse needed maintenance and had no TP.

Now to the hike.  We've not hiked Dog during wildflower season since before the permit system. We are on an elevation challenge this year and had taken the day off so we decided it might be time to revisit dog.

The hike is a climb right out of the gate.  We planned the early start for cooler temps and low traffic.  Temps started in the upper 40s and we did not see anyone until just before Puppy Dog, when a young man passed us as he was heading down.

The flowers heading toward Puppy are great.  A full balsamroot show.  There is a little bit of lupine in bloom on the lower parts of the trail but really none to speak of beyond that.  Past Puppy, the balsamroot is not as thick, and you can see there are more blooms to come.  We imagine in a couple of weeks there may be lupine to go along with the balsamroot and the variety of smaller flowers.

On the final push to the summit, we passed a solo female hiker who was heading down. Then at the summit a solo male hiker came out of the trees and headed down as well.  As we descended a trail runner and her two dogs approached the summit then quickly ran away. A second trail runner and her dog appeared shortly thereafter.

 We returned via the Augspurger trail since it is a quieter and less steep option. We only saw 14 people all day despite returning to an overflowing parking lot at 10:30am. 

Aside from a full dog-doo bag maybe quarter mile from the TH, a pile of eggshells at the summit, and an orange peel, we saw little to no trash on or about the trail.

As to the trailhead trash I vowed to pick up, it was gone by the time we got back. As we were getting into our car, we saw a Ranger driving his truck down the trail from the outhouse. We assume he picked it up before driving to the toilets to restock the TP.

Wildlife: one squirrel, a few birds and on the drive to the TH, a turkey along highway 14.

Another great day outside!

Bluebird day with an abundance of balsam root, larkspur, phlox, violets, Indian paintbrush & many more blooms. Just beautiful with MtHood, Mt St Helen & Mt Adams showing up. We did the loop hike, returning on the Augsberger trail which was quieter & gentler on the knees.