Grassy Knoll and Big Huckleberry Mountain, Jun 4th

As weather is getting better and better every day, I opted for a long hike with some elevation and interesting views and what a treat I got. Grassy Knoll and Big Huckleberry are like two hikes in one. Located in the Washington side of the Gorge, you can do the short version just to Grassy Knoll, or the more adventurous trip to the second Big Huckleberry. After getting all the information, map and forecast, I went out with a small group of just one extra hiker. I guess part of that was due to the possibility of finding snow on the trail. Oh well. After meeting up, we drove to Triangle Pass where I thought the trailhead was (as it shows on the map). Contrary to any information, I had, we did not find any trail signs or other cars. After trying to solve the puzzle for a minute or two, we decided to follow the trail as it was going in the right direction. After about one hour of hiking on a not very well maintained trail we finally got our answer. We did not start at the right trailhead but from an alternate point a bit over a mile south. Obviously there was a big parking lot and a nice trail sign at that point and you could see a nice trail curving around going towards the ridge. So we followed the trail and very soon started getting very impressive views. The first thing we noticed was that most of the trail just follows the exposed ridge so the views are not only open to the north east with Mt Adams in the distance but also due South with Mt Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. About half an hour after we passed the trailhead, we got to one of the smaller peaks on the ridge. From this rock formation we got a fantastic view of Mt Adams in the distance and the Big Lava Bed below us. This area was flattened by a smaller volcano that erupted many, many years ago. The trail continued in the forest for a bit as it turned west until we saw the rock wall just bellow Grassy Knoll. As we got closer to it, we started turning and at some point we veered left and continued skirting the mountain until we reached a big snow field. Instead of going straight, where the trail is supposed to be, we followed a foot path on the edge of the cliff that took us straight to the base of where the old lookout tower used to be. Needless to say, the views were incredible with distant peaks, green valleys and not single cloud in the sky. From Grassy Knoll we could see part of the trail as it continued on the ridge and more patches of snow. We continued traversing without any major hiccups until the trail seems to veer off the ridge to the west side. Later we found that it was basically avoiding some rock formations that would have not been easy to traverse. The problem is that we got in the shaded area of the forest so we found a lot more snow and soon enough lost sight of the trail. AS I navigated thru the forest, we passed by a small canyon with big rocks on our right. I was guessing the trail would be there somewhere until I fell in a posthole deep enough to get my hole leg in it. After that little incident, we corrected a bit and continued until we saw the ridge again and found the trail… well, not actually the trail but clear indications of it. Finally we made it to the point where the trail intersects another trail that leads to the top of Big Huckleberry. We followed that path and shortly after we were sitting at the top of the mountain enjoying the views. The only weird thing we found up there that I don’t recall seeing anywhere else was a lot of ants. The weird part is that all where clamped onto any little piece of plant, bark or leaf they could find. It almost looked like a little life safety boat with a bunch of survivors on it in the immense white snow ocean. After enjoying the views for a while, we started our hike back the same way we came. Once we got to the real trailhead, we realized we still had a bit over a mile to go to reach the car, so instead of being a bit over 10 miles ended up being a 13 mile hike.



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