Hiked up Dog Mountain and back down Augspurger Mountain Trail, as suggested.  Augspurger was quite muddy for the top quarter of the trail, with standing water in some areas.  Dog Mountain is spectacular, although the poison oak on the way up is fairly daunting.  Saw Yellow Balsam root in bloom as well as Inside-out flowers, spotted coral root, chocolate lilies, lupine, red paint brush, Solomon's Seal, choke-cherry, Monkshood, Fairy bells, yarrow, creeping phlox and Three leaved Anemones.  

Arrived at the trailhead at 8am today (Sunday) with lots of spots available, and when we returned around 12:30 there were still lots of spots. Had tried to get there early since we were worried the parking lot would fill up but either because of the shuttle or the permit system or maybe the poor weather, I doubt anyone had issues parking today.

This was a hard hike!! Haven't actually done a hike in a few months so that probably didn't help, but the first mile is ROUGH. Did the "difficult" trail (as opposed to the "more difficult" trail) and it got a lot less steep after the signage. Would recommend doing the difficult trail because there's a really nice viewpoint that was the only view we got the entire way, and it's only .2 miles longer.

Cloudy day - no view at the top and extremely windy. The wildflowers are out in full force and SO nice. I wasn't sure there would be as many as the prior trail reports led me to believe but there ARE!

Getting weekend permits was hard - they sold out in about 1 minute, but it looks like anyone can take the shuttle with no prior reservation.

This report includes a photo album and link to Columbia Gorge wildflower guide. We went up Dog Mountain via the difficult trail (as opposed to the more-difficult trail). It was a very windy day and glad to have an extra layer as well as a wind jacket. Otherwise would not have been able to pause at the top. Went downhill via the less steep Augspurger Trail. Unlike the Dog Mountain trail, the forest here is moist and in some places muddy. On both trails, there’s a serious amount of poison oak on both sides of the trail. It doesn’t disappear until you’re above treeline. Despite staying away from edges of the trail (to avoid the poison oak), I arrived back at the parking lot with a couple ticks on my nape of my neck. Oddly, there were no ticks on my dog (maybe the flea/tick stuff worked). It doesn’t seem to be posted anywhere, but there’s a vault toilet uphill 100 yards from the parking lot.  On this Monday, the parking lot was full by 8am.

We showed up to the shuttle service around 7am and the first shuttle took off on time right at 730 with maybe 2 empty seats.  It was a quick and easy way to get to the trail and get permits - maybe 10-15 minutes. The shuttle is donation based.  I would say there was about 20 of us which was nice because coming down you could tell it was getting very busy.  If you drive, the parking lot was definitely not full when we arrived at the trailhead and with the weather being perfect on Saturday and flowers blooming like crazy, I would say the day was probably one of the busier ones. We took the 'more difficult' route on the way up and had it to ourselves (group of 3) which was nice and the normal route on the way down.  The trail was definitely a leg burner but very worth it. Our group is fairly active and in our early 30s.  There aren't too many switchbacks, just continuous fairly steep upwards on a few long switchbacks.  If you take lots of mini breaks on the way up, I didn't feel it was too difficult. We didn't use poles and it was fine but I could definitely see them useful on this trail. I would make sure you wear hiking boots and not just sneakers because the trail was dry and has loose rock so good traction helps on the way down. windy up at the top so if you plan on hanging out, have layers.  

  This hike has been on my bucket list for a while and I wanted to do it while the wildflowers were out. Doing it on a weekday means somewhat less crowds and no permit needed but parking will still be an issue. Arrived at the parking lot at 9 am to a mostly full lot. Definitely recommend coming earlier to get parking (but we had a four hour drive and had left at 5 am…that’s the breaks!) 

  There is a privy about 100 yards from the trailhead with fully stocked toilet paper.
  It was wonderful to hike without our masks on as we are fully vaccinated.  Seems like everyone else on the trail were also! (Yeah!)  Most of the trail is in the forest with some trillium, lupine, and buttercups blooming with a smattering of balsamroot .  As we reached the open areas, the famous sea of yellow balsamroots with lupine assail your eyes with the mighty Columbia River and Oregon in the background.  Recommend taking your pictures at Puppy point before heading up  to Dog Mountain proper (much less crowded and better shots of the balsamroots!)  Lots and lots of folks enjoying the sunshine at the viewpoint near the top.  We did hike a bit further up to the Dog Mountain summit but it is brushy with no views and we turned around when the trail petered out.  The best views of Mt Adams, however, are along this section of the trail.  Nice views of Mt St Helen and Mt Hood on this clear day.  Balsamroots are at peak and lupine are just starting  It is windy at the top making it a tad chilly so don’t forget your windbreaker!