Who needs Suzanne Sommer's Thigh Master when you've got Dog Mountain? This hike is an all-in-one butt, thigh and calf burner! Technically speaking, the trail is easy - it's pretty much free of roots and rocks and there're no stream crossings. It's also easy to navigate. But, it starts steep and stays steep, with 2,500 feet of elevation gain straight to the top. There are two options though - you can choose difficult or more difficult. If you want more of a gradual decent, take the trail on the right. Either way, you'll be working up a mean sweat so bring plenty of water. Fortunately, the trail stays in forest shade for most of the way. Along the way, we encountered all kinds of dogs: Shepards, sausage-like Datsuns, and pocket-sized dogs. They were all fairly well-behaved. The only problem were the bags of dog poo left along the trail, as if the owners thought some forest gnome would magically appear to take the stuff away! Seriously, who wants to see this stuff when hiking in such a beautiful place? Whatever happened to "Leave No Trace?" This was the only disappointment though in an otherwise beautiful hike. Spectacular yellow Mountain Asters are still blanketing the slopes but they won't be around for much longer (maybe one-two more weeks) so get up there before they're gone! It was a partly cloudy day so we didn't get the views of the mountains, but there is a family of ravens at the top that entertained us with spectacular aerial displays. We weren't in a hurry to summit, which gave us plenty of time to observe the surroundings. On the trail, we caught sight of a Western Bluebird (not Jay), a large lizard and other forest birds. Observing the smaller joys of nature is just as enjoyable to us as seeing wildflowers and panoramic views.

Our leader couldn't have picked a better day to hit the hillsides of Dog Mountain! We were definitely barking up the right tree on this 70 degree day! The skies were clear and the trail wasn't too muddled with trekkers. And the flowers!!!! Breathtaking! Balsamroot was absolutely stunning! "I've never seen anything like it!" was the repeated refrain. Everyone with a camera in hand was almost embarrassed to hold it out in front of them, knowing there was NO WAY humanly possible to grasp the wide angle reality of the hillsides entirely covered with blooms. With the mightly Columbia stretching far to the east and far to the west, an impressive backdrop to the massive stretches of yellow sunfloweresque heads looking into the sun, it's an extraordinary picture which a camera cannot do justice. Now is the time, folks! Go see Dog Mountain in all its glory. I've posted just a few pictures... they are only a glimpse of what you'll see first-hand.

It was a miserable spring day - rainy and windy with temperatures in the 50s. So I did what other crazy outdoorsy people do and went hiking. Our group climbed the steep section of the Dog Mountain loop and came back on the less steep, but longer,section. This turned out to be the perfect way to do the hike. The wild flowers in the forested area on the way up were the best I've ever seen at Dog Mountain. I lost count after about ten varieties when my body shifted oxygen from my brain to my legs. Because the trail was so steep, the flowers were virtually at eye level. The balsamroot at the top was Dog Mountain perfect. The trail down offered some views, but other than that was the basic downhill trek. The advantage of this route is that it is more knee friendly that the steeper trail. There was mud in some places, making it easy to slip. In other places, there was loose rock, making it easy to skitter. I was glad for my hiking poles. Sure, the weather was stinky, but the view from the top was surprisingly good and the wildflowers were post-card perfect.

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.

We started out early in the morning when it was about 40 degrees, clear skies, and barely windy. The temperature made for a good hike up the "samurai" path - the left path at the first fork. The trails were mostly clear. There was a few spots up the left path where we had to cross over some fallen trees that were, unfortunately, too heavy to move. But they aren't so big you can't easily climb over them. The skies clouded over and we could see frost forming on the trees and other flora. When we broke through the tree line, high winds added to the freezing fog and stung a bit on bare skin. We continued up to the peak and hit a little bit of water on the trail, but not so slippery or muddy that it made the hike difficult. We did attempt to take the right fork from the lookout point but there were a lot of fallen trees and branches that made it difficult. Eventually the snow got deeper and combined with the debris made the pass difficult. We didn't plan on snowshoeing so we turned back and took the left trail on the exposed face of the mountain. After a short break at the peak, we continued down and the weather had improved a bit. There were a lot more hikers by then but the trails weren't congested. All in all, the main trails were in good condition but there were a few choke points where the bushes may need to be trimmed back at some point (once they start blooming).