I hiked 1.7 miles of the trail mid-day and turned back because I had to catch a flight home to Seattle. I wish I had kept going because the Columbia River and her riparian habitats were magnificent in the spring sunshine. This hike immediately gains several hundred feet of elevation to get to the top of white bluffs and from there meanders through shrub-steppe habitat, including parts of the trails that go across sandy soils. The stingy insects were out in force and the trail passed one hornet hive in a sage bush right by the trail (about half a mile in). It was a sunny day and hot for this time of year, but the views made the effort worth it.
Others have noted how remote this hike is and I only observed two other hikers on the trail and one pair of birdwatchers in a nearby parking lot for the boat launch. Keep an eye out for snakes; I didn't see any but know they are around. I noticed five species of birds, ranging from herons to mockingbirds. Plant diversity is high.
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