Dog Mountain, for those who don’t know, is probably the most known hike in the Gorge. It’s located in the Washington side offering great views of the Columbia, but what makes this mountain special is that, this time of year, it’s completely covered with wildflowers. I hadn’t done this one yet as I wanted to avoid the crowds you normally encounter on this hike. I had been told before that it’s often difficult to find a parking spot and if you do, then you might get stuck behind a group of hikers doing a much slower pace. Being Memorial day weekend, with warm and sunny weather, it seemed perfect for this hike so Chris, Dallas and I came up with the idea of doing it late in the afternoon to avoid the crowds and enjoy the sunset. We invited Shawn and Scott for this as well. Timing the sunset, we met at gateway and carpooled to the trailhead just in time to start our hike at around 6 in the afternoon. Going up we found just a couple of hikers on their way down before we realized we had the mountain to ourselves, clearly something very rare in Dog Mountain. The first portion of the hike is an uneventful climb through a very dense forest with numerous switchbacks and constant elevation gain until the trail opens up and you see the sky up ahead. Just there you get the first glimpse at the hill next to you completely covered in yellow flowers. At that point, there’s also a nice overhang with amazing views of the Gorge and the rest of the trail going uphill towards the summit. In the pictures you’ll the flower cover on the west side of the mountain with the Columbia running below. After a bit over two hours keeping a grueling pace, we got to the top just in time for the sunset. One thing I miss calculated was that, at the elevation we where and the wind, temperatures where far lower than what we found at the trail head. Luckily Scott had an extra fleece that I borrowed while we stayed up there. After a short photography session, we got our stoves out, cooked some dinner and made some hot cocoa to warm up a bit. Soon after that, we packed everything and started our way down with the remaining light getting back down hiking in the dark with our headlamps. Truly a fantastic hike and probably the best way to enjoy Dog Mountain.
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