Dog Mountain — Saturday, May. 22, 2010

Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA

It was fairly sunny and breezy as we started up the Augsperger trail for Dog Mountain at about 10am. Had nice views of the Columbia River as we ascended through the interesting lichen covered oak trees. As we kept climbing, it changed from cool to cold and breezy to windy until it was so cold and windy we had to put on our fleece jackets and then our rain jackets. Once we broke through the forest, the wildflowers were spectaclar. Even though the mist hung low, the bright yellow blanket of balsamroot was spectacular. Lots and lots of various wildflowers are blooming. It's time to go visit Dog Mountain now. Cloud cover prevented us from seeing views of the Columbia and the mountain peaks for most of the hike. But as we descended the Dog Mountain trail, the clouds parted briefly allowing us glimpses of the river right before we entered into the forest again.