We've been hiking in the eastern gorge for the spring flowers and to visit new areas. On Saturday we decided to head to 7 Mile Hill, our first visit.
Parked at the trailhead...........whoops no trail here, so I guess we just parked.
Walked down the road a short way, turned 90 degrees to the right and headed across the field to the eastern fence line.
There were no trails here. So we just made our way up the hill. It's easy to tell which side of the fence is pasture. In the picture there's a cow with it's head sticking through the fence eating grass from "Our" side.
We saw four hikers working their way across the slope. This area looked a little steep. We never met up with them.
This fence runs through the field. It was down in some areas and easy to cross.
Without trails you can pretty much walk in any direction. We didn't want to step on any flowers so making your way through the field walking around and stepping over Balsamroot and Lupine was interesting. We walked a little further uphill but it was in the mid fifties with a 20-30 mph wind and decided to head back to the car.
Balsamroot is a looks little past prime in this area but I'm no flower expert. Guess 85%.
The hawk was just hovering and screeching frequently in the strong wind above us. Ya figure if it was looking for lunch it would try and be quiet but what do I know.
On the way down I happen to look off to my left. There were 6 cows standing perfectly still, not a tail twitching, just staring at us. Gave me the creeps. By the time I took the picture the bull had returned to his grazing. This is a good picture for a thought bubble caption contest. "All that grass and they're not eating any of it." or maybe "Squirrel"
We decide to head over to Rowena Plateau and check out the flowers. Still mid-fifties and very windy but the flowers didn't disappoint.
Lots and lots of Poison Oak near the ponds. I didn't get a picture but when the existing trail passed to close you could see a new path further away allowing for a better buffer.
And the view at the end of the day, lots of white tractor trailers heading west on the Washington side. Actually the end of the day was at Brian Pourhouse in Hood River.
Seven Mile Hill 2.7 miles / 1050 ft.
Rowena Plateau 2 miles / 300 ft
Seven Mile Hill & Rowena Plateau 05-05-2012
Seven Mile Hill & Rowena Plateau 05-05-2012
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
― E.B. White
― E.B. White
- CuriousGorgeGuide
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Re: Seven Mile Hill & Rowena Plateau 05-05-2012
Well done, I must say!
Re: Seven Mile Hill & Rowena Plateau 05-05-2012
Nice report and pictures - and I really like the maps
Now I know where *exactly* Rowena Plateau is (knew only the general location before), not to mention Seven Mile Hill
Now I know where *exactly* Rowena Plateau is (knew only the general location before), not to mention Seven Mile Hill
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Re: Seven Mile Hill & Rowena Plateau 05-05-2012
Never mind that he just pulled off the road and trespassed....by the way, those tractor trailers are on a train which is on a train track. Woo Woo! Actually, those are not "tractor trailers" just trailers riding piggy-back.
Re: Seven Mile Hill & Rowena Plateau 05-05-2012
I saw your vehicle at the "trail head"! I drove out from Portland in search of pretty wildflowers but just couldn't handle the wind when I stepped out of the car. It looked great from the comfort of my car though!
I wound up across the river at an old standbye, the Lyle Cherry Orchard, instead.
Hopefully I can make a Seven Mile Hill/Stacker Butte double header on a less windy day. Your pictures make me wish I'd put up with the conditions!
Great TR!
I wound up across the river at an old standbye, the Lyle Cherry Orchard, instead.
Hopefully I can make a Seven Mile Hill/Stacker Butte double header on a less windy day. Your pictures make me wish I'd put up with the conditions!
Great TR!
Re: Seven Mile Hill & Rowena Plateau 05-05-2012
@Scott Thanks! High praise indeed.
@romann Thanks
@ mtnhiker56 At no time was I trespassing. The image in my trip report shows my GPS track was within the USFS property boundary (Shaded area) at all times. The only trespassing I witnessed was that cow munching USFS grass through the fence.
Scott Cook describes the hike along with maps of the area on the Curious Gorge Blog.
http://curiousgorgeblog.wordpress.com/9 ... ill-route/
@airoff If you were in the brown sedan heading east @ about 1:30 I saw you too.
@romann Thanks
@ mtnhiker56 At no time was I trespassing. The image in my trip report shows my GPS track was within the USFS property boundary (Shaded area) at all times. The only trespassing I witnessed was that cow munching USFS grass through the fence.
Scott Cook describes the hike along with maps of the area on the Curious Gorge Blog.
http://curiousgorgeblog.wordpress.com/9 ... ill-route/
@airoff If you were in the brown sedan heading east @ about 1:30 I saw you too.
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
― E.B. White
― E.B. White
-
- Posts: 125
- Joined: August 21st, 2011, 7:29 am
Re: Seven Mile Hill & Rowena Plateau 05-05-2012
My apologies then are in order.