With the continuing lack of winter I thought I'd take a stab at Lookout Mountain from the Dog River Trail and see how far I could get before either snow or darkness turn-around time stopped me. The weather on the west side looked iffy so something on the east side of Hood seemed to make sense and it worked: perfect weather, about 45 degrees and a little sun.
Arriving at the TH off the Loop Hwy, at 2100' elevation I was slightly discouraged by the snow in the parking area but once just a few feet up the trail and away from the creek, the snow was gone. There was a skiff more at the next creek crossing at 2700' but again, once just a few dozen yards up, no snow. It seems the colder air draining down the canyons conspires to prevent the snow from melting as fast as on the slopes.
My late start (1:10) gave me a turn-around time of 3:40 to make it back by the last of twilight but I still got 11.4 miles RT out of the adventure.
There are about 10 small trees, 8" to 12" diameter across the trail, most past mile 3, and two big ones in the first mile or so:
2 1/2' to 3' dia. fir:
2 1/2' to 3' dia. pine:
There's a nice viewpoint about three miles in. This would be much better on a clear day and much earlier in the day for better lighting. I guess I will just have to go back:
Here's a view of the trail at 3,800' elevation:
I took a turn onto an old logging road 4 miles in and that didn't turn out so well. The map shows the trail in the middle of the ridge but it's not there, causing me to have to bushwhack all the back across the ridge through some really bad blowdown. This is a forest fire just waiting to happen:
Once back on the correct trail, I continued but never ran into any snow - even at 4100':
By the time I got back to the view point at the three mile mark, Hood presented a different view than before:
Another great day in the woods.
dn
Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
- Don Nelsen
- Posts: 4380
- Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
- Location: Vancouver, WA
Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly
"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller
"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller
Re: Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
Beautiful pics of Hood, DN, and a not-so-often-seen view of the east side. Looks like it was a great choice to go to ensure staying dry.
Re: Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
Hi Don,
Turning on to the old logging road was correct on your part.
You follow that road south for a bit, then pick up the trail.
Or, you could continue on the trail that heads downhill just a tad (just before the old road), which will eventually continue southbound. It will pick eventually connect with the Dog River Trail.
Either option works good.
Turning on to the old logging road was correct on your part.
You follow that road south for a bit, then pick up the trail.
Or, you could continue on the trail that heads downhill just a tad (just before the old road), which will eventually continue southbound. It will pick eventually connect with the Dog River Trail.
Either option works good.
- Don Nelsen
- Posts: 4380
- Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
- Location: Vancouver, WA
Re: Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
Jack,Jack wrote:Beautiful pics of Hood, DN, and a not-so-often-seen view of the east side. Looks like it was a great choice to go to ensure staying dry.
Thanks for the compliment. This was my first time on this trail and I bet I've driven by there 100 times in the past 50 years or so.
I got lucky on this one - by the time I was back on I-84, a misty light rain started and turned into a pretty good rain for most of the way back.
dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly
"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller
"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller
- Don Nelsen
- Posts: 4380
- Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
- Location: Vancouver, WA
Re: Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
Thanks for the info Justin. If this amazing weather holds, I'll get back up there and check it out.-Q- wrote:Hi Don,
Turning on to the old logging road was correct on your part.
You follow that road south for a bit, then pick up the trail.
Or, you could continue on the trail that heads downhill just a tad (just before the old road), which will eventually continue southbound. It will pick eventually connect with the Dog River Trail.
Either option works good.
Tomorrow, though, I think I'll check out El Lago de Pablo.
dn
dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly
"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller
"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller
- Sean Thomas
- Posts: 1647
- Joined: February 25th, 2012, 11:33 pm
Re: Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
Nice, DN. Love that shot of the pines. You still on that awesome Junuary streak?
- Don Nelsen
- Posts: 4380
- Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
- Location: Vancouver, WA
Re: Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
I'll never catch you, Sean but, yes - 31 day in a row and all 28 days of Junuary hiked. (Who coined "Junuary" BTW? Was it you or payslee? Excellent, nevertheless!)Sean Thomas wrote:Nice, DN. Love that shot of the pines. You still on that awesome Junuary streak?
dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly
"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller
"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller
Re: Dog River Trail, Jan 27th, 2015
Found references back to 2010...Don Nelsen wrote:(Who coined "Junuary" BTW? Was it you or payslee? Excellent, nevertheless!)
http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... ary#p23924
http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... ary#p31895
Seems the spelling is still undecided.
Nasty! I've felt the same way on Hunchback Ridge, just south of Zigzag, and also on the northern stretches of Phlox Point. This "winter" isn't helping at all.Jack wrote:have to bushwhack all the back across the ridge through some really bad blowdown. This is a forest fire just waiting to happen
Karl
Back on the trail, again...
Back on the trail, again...