Dog Mountain — Tuesday, May. 4, 2021

This was my first time on this trail - simply beautiful, simply steep!  I knew from previous pictures that it would be beautiful, and from the stats that it would be difficult - both were accurate!  We arrived on a Tuesday morning at 9:00 to a parking lot that was 90% full.  The trail was busy, but we avoided a lot of crowds on the way down by taking the Agsperger Trail - easier on the knees but it added about a mile - and that extra mile was worth it.  Many lowland/woodland flowers were in bloom; once we got into the open the Balsam Root just took over with some Lupine and Paintbrush in the mix.  It was much cooler and WINDIER at the top - we were glad to have an extra layer to put on.  We saw three volcanoes from the peak - Mt. Hood was easy to spot; you had to look for St. Helens and Adams.