Took Dog Mountain Shuttle from Stevenson which is free and allows you to hike Augspurger-Dog mountain if you don't have a weekend permit, https://www.ridecatbus.org/dog-mountain-shuttle/.
Augspurger trail was in great shape up to the junction with Dog Mountain. From here, sections of the trail were overgrown and hard to follow at times. GPS was very helpful to make sure I was on trail. Saw no one else on the trail other than a black bear that got spooked. There is some blow down but easy to step over. Views of the Gorge were limited. There were some nice wildflowers on sections of the trail. Summit is forested without any views.
Detoured onto Dog Mountain on way back. Section from Augspurger to Dog Mountain is gorgeous right now with wildflowers. Balsamroot on Dog Mountain past its peak but still pretty. Total stats on hike was 5500 ft eg and 15 miles. I was glad to be taking shuttle back to give my legs a rest.
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