The Toonies Take On The AAAs: 25 hours and counting....

[renegadepilgrim]

The Toonies Take On The AAA’s: 25 hours and counting

As an homage to our beloved Loonies, several CWMG ladies took on the ferocious AAA and lived to tell the tale. What follows is the account as recalled by the Almighty Honey Badger (though not as skilled a writer as slide-alder, I hope you will enjoy the spirit with which this was intended).

***NOTE: I have spent over an hour trying to post photos with this post. I keep getting error messages no matter how I try to do it (embed links, etc). If you would like to view the photos, they can be found here: https://plus.google.com/photos/10171477 ... 5_ritbl3AE)

We started out at Angel’s Rest TH with four hearty souls: Almighty Honey Badger (AHB), Aqua Woman, Amazing Sustainability Girl (she had a tie-dye cape!) and Alligator Girl. Each experienced in the wonders of the outdoors, we would have to gather our collective knowledge on more than one occasion to overcome the obstacles of hiking so far in one day.

Our group met many people (and four-legged people) on the highway, I mean trail, to Angel’s Rest. Our first obstacle was the river crossing. It was running fast and high. We weren’t sure how to conquer it and spent hours strategizing the best way to cross it and the best technique to use. We were ready to give up until we saw the suspension bridge and we gingerly crossed it one at a time to avoid any mishaps. We spent countless hours struggling with the intense elevation gain, not to mention Aqua Woman encountered fog and rain several times.

We were concerned about encountering the dreaded pizzlies mentioned in the last trail report from April 1st. It seemed like these dreadful creatures were all over, but our fears were assuaged by our meeting of Ollie, a dear, sweet Corgi puppy, who assured us of his ability to keep the dreaded pizzlies at bay. After our encounter with Ollie we struggled onward and upward, dodging large boulders and small bags of dog poop in a variety of colors (I liked the pink ones, they were easier to spot and avoid).

Eventually, we arrived at the summit of Angel’s Rest, the highest point in the Columbia Gorge. It was a glorious sunny and windy day, perfect for our snack of almonds, almond butter and ants on a log. We were fortunate the blizzard predicted in the weather report never materialized and I, the Almighty Honey Badger was able to fly her Avengers kite for a while. The wind was not strong enough to carry it far, so I brought it in, packed up and we began our descent.

We encountered many more people on our way back to the trailhead, several who inquired about our intentions and some even requested our photos. We heartily obliged, even though it added another few hours to our total trail time. It’s all a part of being a Toony after all. Celebrity follows us everywhere it seems.

On our return to the trailhead, we had to sadly say our goodbyes to Amazing Sustainability Girl and Alligator Girl. The trials and tribulations were just too much for them and they wished Aqua Woman and myself, the Almighty Honey Badger well on the remaining part of our expedition.

Aqua Woman and I continued on our arduous journey and we sped off to our next destination: Ainsworth State Park. We dodged surly pedestrians and tourists near Multnomah Falls and eventually arrived at Ainsworth State Park where we walked almost two feet from the car to a picnic table where we imbibed in Angry Orchard Apple Cider, almond cookies, albacore tuna salad sandwiches with arugula and avocado, apple juice and apples, to name a few items on our menu. We were famished after the hours we spent summiting Angel’s Rest and we rewarded ourselves appropriately.

We finished our snack and pushed onward up the Columbia River Gorge and over the former land bridge now known as Bridge of the Gods. Our trusty steed kept us on the road as we dodged potholes big enough to swallow small children. We parked and began the difficult ascent up Aldrich Butte.

Our trek up to the top of Aldrich Butte was also met with many challenges. Logs had to be cleared from the trail and the wind was fierce. We found local people hunting for the elusive nettle plant along the route. Aqua Woman encountered more fog and rain while we continued onward and upward. After several hours, we summited Aldrich Butte where we celebrated with Almond Joys, apple pie, and almond milk. We took turns taking photos to document this glorious occasion. The sun was starting to make its great escape so we sped up on our descent and made it back to Portland before darkness settled in.

All told we trekked over 8 miles and almost 2500’...

[Sean Thomas]

Nice! The Triple AAA huh? I haven't seen that one yet so it looks like you bagged a first ascent!

[kepPNW]

If you would like to view the photos, they can be found here.

We started out at Angel’s Rest TH with four hearty souls: Almighty Honey Badger (AHB), Aqua Woman, Amazing Sustainability Girl (she had a tie-dye cape!) and Alligator Girl.

Okay, without even reading beyond this (which I will do!), I think putting these two sentences back to back qualifies as an automatic foul!

EDIT: Bravo! (Still )

[bobcat]

Now I'm surmising that pizzlies are really pink bags of dog poop. A daunting foe indeed, but corgis will scarf them up in a flash. Also, that Ainsworth section of the AAA repels many . . . Looks like you bailed out on the one-mile loop. . .

[miah66]

"This hike brought to you by....THE LETTER 'A'"