Dog Mountain
Gretchen recommended this trail to me and John.
She said the wildflowers should be out and it'd be a nice way to stretch our legs during our drive from the Coast back to Portland.
A relatively easy 3.8 miles straight up over 1 billion feet of elevation gain.
I think John was scanning for tree ninjas here.
We encountered a sign with two seemingly different options.
It's a trick, they're actually both more difficult.
As we broke treeline we also got our first glimpse of the wildflowers Gretchen had promised.
A view of the Columbia Gorge from the first clearing.
We continued our ascent along a path that parted a sea of yellow.
Wildflower fields forever.
Another view of the gorge not far from the top of the mountain.
Also, a great spot to scarf down some lunch.
The hike back down offered views like this one.
Whether you're hiking up them, or back down, I gotta' say switchbacks aren't so bad when they look like this.
