Augspurger Trail, Dog Mountain — Sunday, May. 5, 2013

Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA

On a beautiful, warm early May Sunday I hiked the Augspurger/Dog Mountain loop in the direction recommended by Art Kruckeberg's "Wildflower Hikes Washington" and was amply rewarded. This was the perfect route for me: I always like some balance of solitude and cheer, I don't do well hiking uphill in the heat, and I'm always entertained by flower hunting (though note without the patience to develop good identification skills). When I went to use the Dog Mountain trailhead restroom, 100 yards up the trail, I saw so many people headed up the trail that I turned around and went up the signed Augspurger trail. This trail served up a dish of peace and quiet, with only a handful of hikers coming downhill as I reached the top. The shade afforded by trees and a slight breeze kept me comfortable all the way. It was cool as I gained elevation in forest on good tread. There appeared to be an awful lot of poison oak plants waiting to grab me, if I got the trailhead picture right. After awhile, I developed that momentary "did I leave the lights on in the car" panic, only it was "I think I brushed poison oak" (and no, I didn't). The forest floor was rich with flowers: yellow spikes of low or creeping Oregon grape, soft white of woodland strawberry, a few triliums farther up, a few fairyslipper and lovely fairybells. Fringecup, vanilla leaf, and star-flowered Solomon's seal. A shrub with a froth of white flower spikes (looked like Ceanothus). Even a few paintbrush and pretty yellow violet. The trail comes out of the forest at a junction with Dog Mountain trail. I went right at the junction and kept going up in increasingly thinner forest, finally reaching the flower gardens and open slopes of Dog Mountain. And here I got my company- lots of sweaty, smiling folks and happy, toasty dogs. The views were fabulous- Mt. St. Helens lovely in snow, sweeping views up and down the Columbia River Gorge, the cap of Hood peeking out over the Oregon side ridge. Flowers were resplendent and gorgeous- purple larkspur and lupine, a little ballhead waterleaf, balsamroot, buttercup, and lovely little checker lilies. I ate lunch sitting by a side trail at the top, listening to the laughter and happy chatter of dozens of happy hikers also taking a break. Then downhill, on the steep Dog Mountain trail. It was not too crowded, with one of the several hikers I saw an older teenage boy with a decent camera stopping along the way to get down on his knees- and take flower pictures! I sustained a few mild blisters due to the toe-jamming elevation loss. I highly commend the smart people who brought ski poles-they're a real benefit to the knees on trails this steep. All in all, one of my new favorite loops in the Gorge- will put it on the calendar for a weekend of flower hikes next year.