Parked at trail head near entrance to Beacon Rock and headed out for a great day hike. Water falls we're really flowing. Past the falls and continued on the more difficult route to the summit of Mt. Hamilton. Amazing views of the gorge at many locations along the way. There were a few muddy spots on the way, but overall the trail was in excellent condition. Snow is all gone. Make sure you have a Discovery Pass the rangers are very aggressive about checking.

We hiked this trail on a cloudy, rainy Sunday after spending the night in Portland. Despite the weather, the parking lot was about half full. We heard reports of "hail-like" snow on the summit, but never saw anything but light rain and fog. The trail was a little muddy at times, but in good condition overall. The rockier sections of switchbacks closer to the summit were wet and slippery but nothing unusual. The fog was thick up top, so the views were left to our imagination on this classic Northwest November afternoon, but I imagine they would be gloriously expansive on a clear day. The trail is mostly exposed and open after leaving the junction with the Hardy Ridge Connector trail. I plan on returning for a sunny spring morning hike to enjoy the views, but the waterfalls were still a hike-worthy highlight. All in all, a nice moderately quick hike if you're already in the area. And, time permitting, still close enough for one more pass through the Portland food trucks on the return to Seattle.

With the Government Shutdown forcing our volunteers from planned projects on the National Forests, I went out to scout trails at Beacon Rock. Thanks to the park ranger for dropping me off so I could do a grand loop up and over Hardy Ridge and Hamilton Mt. connecting them via the Bridge Trail and Don's Cut-Off. Along the way I got to see WTA's volunteers work - On the west side of Hardy Ridge I hiked up the reroute that our Youth Vol. Vacation built in 2012 - a beautiful single-track that replaces the steep logging road. (there's more reroute planned) The ridge is pretty brushy and a couple switchbacks are starting to fail. At the crest there is a 4-way junction where the designated trail goes straight and user-created paths go up and down the ridge as folks explore "off-trail". I sat for a spell on the crest and the clouds parted once, just enough to get a sample of the beautiful view. Continuing along on the Bridge Trail and Don's Cut-off I found them to be in good shape. Such beautiful trails! the volunteer built rock fords are a work of art! Coming down Hamilton Mt. I noticed that many, many of the switchbacks are failing as they are eroded and people are cutting them. Its in really bad shape and will be very difficult to remedy given the rocky terrain and distance from the trailhead. Further down I crossed a small landslide and a section where the tread is so outsloped its starting to fail. That's the spot we'll have our volunteers work this weekend.

WOW! This hike was so worth every step of elevation gain! I took my dog Daisy on this hike and saw a lot of others with their dogs as well. The view from the summit was spectacular and the columbia river gorge as gorgeous as ever! The pup and I sat and ate our lunch on the flat boulders at the view point. Definitely the spot for it. A few shared Fritos later, Daisy and I moved on. The only change I would make would be to do the loop and come down the Hardy Trail. I chose to come back down the Hamilton Mountain Trail which was really steep. It was hard on the knees but even harder on my poor backside after Daisy pulled on her leash a couple of times and sent me sliding to the ground - not fun!

A very pleasant trail with some outstanding views of the Gorge along the way. One has to marvel at the work it took to create this trail. Romano gives it 5 stars. I wouldn't go that far, but it's still worthwhile.