The weather has been so "hiking-friendly" that myself, a hiking friend and my 2 yr old Cocker Spaniel Rigby set our sights on reaching Phlox Point within Beacon Rock State Park. The gate was open, so we parked at the campground and started out west from the parking lot. Per Guy excellent suggestion in a previous TR, we took a clockwise route around Little Beacon Rock:
Facing the back of Little Beacon Rock to the south as the fog threatens to lift:
Rigby wanted to check out the old cabin Guy described in a previous TR http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org ... w=previous. We headed offtrail at the powerlines and came to the cabin:
When was the last time the maid was here?
There was lots of low-lying brush. We followed what seemed to be game trails at times, but then they completely disappeared other times. Is that the fog lifting?
Rigby must have picked up the scent for the equestrian trail, because he got very excited and took us right to it. (Maybe he just got tired swimming through the low brush):
Rigby excited to be out of the offtrail - where's my treat?:
We followed the Hardy West trail as we gained elevation and found ourselves above the clouds (sorry for the dark shots - it really is morning!):
payslee told me that a connector trail now existed to link Hardy West to Phlox Pt. We headed up that way:
The views continued to get better. We were above the cloud line. The connector trail was in excellent shape.
We get to the Phlox Pt trail junction point:
Then head up Phlox Pt trail to Phlox Pt:
We ate lunch at Phlox Pt (with little wind!) in....December!
We finished lunch after gawking at the views from approx 2950 ft elevation. There was no snow nor ice at Phlox Pt - only a single gentleman wishing us a good day.
We turned around and headed down the Phlox Point trail, to the awesome Rock Boot (Beware: objects are smaller than they appear):
Head over the Hardy Creek "Mega-Bridge":
Then Hardy Creek trail south for a little bit to Don's Cutoff trail. Rigby protected us from this rock, as he barked at it incessantly. The rock seemed to leave us alone, figuring it was no match for our "rock attacking dog":
We gained Hamilton Ridge very briefly to get another view:
Rigby getting a selfie:
Headed back down to Hardy Creek trail, to "the sign":
Which way now? I am ready for dinner! (and a bath!)
Past the falls:
Down to the powerlines and one last view as daytime wanes:
We finished at about 4:45pm, and looked like this (bath pending):
Distance: 12.7 miles
Ascent: 3536 ft
Max elevation: 2946 ft
Fantastic day on the trails! Thank you Guy and payslee for information on this area! Rigby wants to come back here in the spring, as he insists I must improve upon my photo taking skills.
