I chose a weekday (Monday) to do this one. It's a long commute from my home in Longview, WA. Arrived at the TH about 8:45am. Weather great for hiking, about 10 cars in the lot. There is a vault toilet with two stalls there. (pretty deplorable condition at the time I was there) I decided beforehand to hike up the Dog Mtn. trail and once reaching the summit, return via Augsburger trail. That is a "loop" slangily known as the Doggie/Oggie loop. The trail starts out right away with a healthy lung and heartbeat climb and never really lets up (except for a few traverses) till you reach the summit. At about .6 miles in, on #147 you come upon a fork in the trail. There's a sign there with a "comforting message" and two arrows, one straight ahead and one right. Arrow right (trail #147c) says "difficult". The straight ahead arrow (trail #147) says "more difficult". Hmmm....I chose the trail to the right #147c and hiked to the summit. More climbing will get you to Puppy Dog View Point which is about .9 miles from the summit. Good place to catch your breath and view the Columbia River for miles. The summit is a good spot for a sandwich or whatever. As you start down you will notice a sign that shows the takeoff for Augsburger Trail.(you will have passed it on the way up also) Going down the Augie way saves the knees. It's a bit longer, about 3/4 mile or so, but very nice trail on duff (pine needles over dirt) and easy on the legs. Cooler too. It will come out at the same TH where your car is. I try and do this hike every year about late April or early May to see what kind of shape my legs and lungs are in. The pass you need is a NW Forest Service pass or if you're old like me, the America the Beautiful pass also works. On the way back you can cross the Bridge of the Gods (for 3 bucks) and tool on down to Thunder Island Brewery for a great snack and craft beers. Just a thought.

Enjoy!

This is a report for the Cook Hill loop trail, which is closest to dog mountain but not available on WTA.

We were the first car at 7am. Greeted with 7 additional cars at noon on our return.

There was enough wind that the bugs didn't cause any problems.
It's a great loop with a lot of tree cover to be protected from the sun. This was great given the heat advisory.

It is quite steep and poles were very welcome on the way down. Taking the loop counterclockwise is the way to go if you want a steep accent with a more reasonable descent.

On our way back, the local goats eye our enjoying some sun.

It's definitely a great other option besides Dog Mountain, and while it has fewer flowers, it's higher up so the view of Mount Hood is nicer in my opinion.

Trail is in great shape. Hiked up for sunset and came down in the dark. Saw some small black scorpions (quarter sized) on the trail at the last set of switchbacks. Flowers are just starting to die off, but still some spectacular blooms! Grind of a trail but quick to get down. We took the “difficult” path up and down. Very top of the trail is getting quite grown over though, not sure if we officially hit the summit but it was fun to be outside when it was cooling off. Fantastic sunset views! Took around 4 hours round trip, clocked 2920ft gain and 6.86miles.

With some unexpected mid-week free-time suddenly, figured I would take advantage and hit up this bucket list hike while not having to deal with permits and crowds.

While not weekend busy, it was still a very busy trail. Arrived to the trailhead around 9am and there were around 40+ cars there. Hiked up the "more difficult" trail, down the "difficult" trail. Passed multiple people/groups going both ways.

Saw the flowers, but they are on borrowed time at this point, I think. The window to see them is closing soon. Fun trail, challenging, glad I did it. Not sure I would choose it over others in the area, though, now that I've "checked it off the list".

Got there around 3pm and found parking in the lot with no problem. The toilets didn't have any TP though. The hike is mostly in shade until you reach the last bit where the flowers are. That was nice since it was a hot day. The flowers were in full bloom and was everything I had hoped for! It was also fun to watch the birds soaring and riding the wind currents all above the wildflower fields.