We went up Dog Mountain the as the Oregon side of the Gorge hasn't gotten much sun. It was a very cold day and pretty windy the entire drive. Dog Mountain trailhead was clear and only one other car in the lot when we arrived.

The trail began clear, but quickly became covered in packed down snow on the first switchbacks. I had some yaktrax, but my girlfriend made it up this with no problems. From this point the trail was covered in snow the rest of the way up, but has seen enough traffic to be easy to follow. We went up the easier route to the left as there was more sun on it. After the first overlook the trail was a tiny bit hard to catch up a ridge, but we kept following tracks and made it no problem. As we continued up the trail the forest was blanketed in snow, but the trail stayed easy to follow until right before the meadow. When we hit the last switchbacks and came to where the trail usually emerges onto the meadow, the trail other hikers had made veered off to the left up the hill. We could see a trail all the way up to the summit, but the way was steep up the hill cutting straight up the meadow rather than switchbacking across. Since we had no poles or better footgear, we decided to turn back at this point. We had passed others that made it to the summit with better gear so it was doable. On the way down it was definitely helpful to have spikes on my boots, as my girlfriend fell several times, but was not super hard. Overall it was still a very pleasant, but cold hike. By far the least crowded I've seen Dog Mountain. With the weather changing this week hopefully some of the snow will come off and the trail will be exposed again. 

Did two laps up the mountain, using both the shorter and longer trail.  Both are in good condition with a couple of easy to navigate blowdowns.  I encountered no snow.  

Dog Mountain has been on my list for quite a while and despite knowing that it's even more beautiful in the spring, we opted to do it in winter (too)! It was a clear day with views of the big volcanoes. We started at 10am and temps were mid 30's (warming up to mid 40's upon our completion). The trail is in excellent condition, however, it became slippery and muddy at times as the frozen ground began to thaw (more towards the summit). The summit was also windy (despite wind being less than 2mph at the trailhead) and cold so make sure you have layers in your pack!

Great trail. Relentless ascent. Arrived at the trail at 11am to beautiful, crispy and slightly windy fall weather and parking lot was 1/3 full. When returning to trailhead at 2:30pm there were cars everywhere. Lots of people on trail yet big enough for everyone.

It’s a nice loop and once past the initial steep push past trailhead, I decided to take ‘more difficult’ designated route. A real thigh burner and heart thumper. Once at the point where you can decide to leave the loop and ascend up to summit (1 mile to top) I chose to go for it. It became too steep for my liking, however, and too crowded on such a steep terrain. I returned to the loop and descended down the less difficult side which was a real nice pace and with beautiful fall sun and foliage still hanging on. 

Also had a nice leisurely lunch on the false summit before heading down, and great conversation with a few other hikers. Shout out to the fierce trail runners and couple of guys with babies / toddlers on their packs while making the way to summit. Just wow! 

Also a big shout out to the Mohammed from Portland with whom I enjoyed hiking the initial ascent. Wish we could have enjoyed the false summit lookout. Keep up your love for hiking and stay outside!