Five of us drove down from the Tri-Cities for our first hike on Dog Mountain. I researched the trail on the internet and tried to find trip reports for this year. No trip reports yet though this year so I figured it was because few people were hiking it this early. I figured there might be some snow at the summit. For the first half of the trail, we were enjoying a nice spring hike. Then we started to get into a little snow. We took the easier right hand trail because someone had etched ""better views"" or something like that in the sign. By the time we exited the trees into what is probably a beautiful meadow of flowers in May, we were walking through several inches of snow and getting pounded by the wind. Probably 3/4 of the way up we reached the old outlook site (""Puppy"" I think it's called). The wind was really blowing and we were in the clouds. We reached the summit where some trees provided great cover from the wind and the sun was breaking through the cloud cover. There were snow drifts of a couple feet and maybe 6"" of cover in most places. We got a few good views of the Columbia river a few times when the clouds weren't in the way. A great hike. Very glad we wore many layers, gloves and hats! We'll come back later in the spring to check out the hills without the snow.

I started off on this normally over-populated trail around 9:30 am and was surprised to find the parking lot empty except for 2 other cars, of whose drivers were finishing their hike right as I started my own. Dog Mountain all to myself! This would normally be great but it was much more windy than usual (it's usually windy up there but this was ridiculous), a little too cool for comfort and kind of dark. The result was a slightly creepy hike: Roaring wind rubbing branches together like something out of a horror film, snakes of cloudy mist blowing through the tree line, snapping twigs, etc. It was both exhilarating and spooky. The hike to the first lookout was glorious. Great sweeping panorama of wild windswept mountainsides and a very white-capped Columbia River. Almost lost my hat to the wind several times. About 15 minutes past the first lookout I stopped hiking and turned back before summiting. I normally hate to not finish a hike but I was pretty much walking in a thick, grey, cold cloudbank at this point and couldn't see anything. The way the wind was blowing the clouds in it looked like it was just going to get cloudier and darker. And as a single female hiker I wasn't going to take any chances. I got creeped out and high-tailed it out of there, sure that every snapping twig was a bear or cougar coming after me! Pretty soon I ran into an older couple climbing the trail and felt better, but I called it a day nonetheless. I'm surprised that other reviewers think this is an arduous hike. It's steep and tedious at times but fairly easy for a Washington hike with lots of moderate climbing and rolling trails. I've been on this trail on two other occasions when it was HOT and clear skies, and definitely recommend this hike.

You'd probably think I didn't like this trip if I told you that I sprained my ankle on the incredibly steep trail, that all that was left of the wildflowers were brown dried petals, clouds blocked the view of Mt. Hood and that the wind was FREEZING. But, you'd be wrong. Despite all that, I left early in the am and had the summit all to myself. Peaceful and beautiful. Not sure how the women I passed on the way down with sandals and cigarettes fared though.

No snow, no bugs, no mud, no blow-downs. Is this a Washington trail? What there is is steep. 3000 feet in 3 miles. Also the throngs showed up for this Memorial weekend Saturday. By early afternoon there must have been more than 75 cars and trucks in the overflowing parking lot and spreading along the highway. The sky was hazy, but the fields of balsamroot were amazing.

We enjoyed a gorgeous hike up Dog Mt. The flowers (balsamroot mainly) were in full bloom! Lots of friendly hikers to share the trail with as everybody (and their dog) was on the trail today. No problems to report at all. Just a lovely hike. Will come back next year for sure! The flowers really are ""worth the effort.""