Table Mountain, the long way, May 27th

Several years ago, I did this route whit a small group of people. Back then I remember that we started really early as it was already late in the season and we knew the hike was long and hard. After that, I’ve repeated Table Mountain several times but doing “the short route” that started from the Bonneville hot springs resort. A bit over a year ago, the resort was sold and now it houses a mental institution. With it, they closed access to the back-parking lot and a connector trail that cut about 6 miles from the route to Table Mountain. So now, instead of doing about 9 miles and 3350’ of elevation gain, you have a grueling 15 miles hike with almost 4000’ of elevation gain. But what’s a bit more distance and elevation, right? So, of we went. Being early season, we had a long day ahead and enough light but still cooler weather and nice blue skies. All perfect conditions for this hike and to get the rewarding views from the top.

We hiked the forested area pretty fast and without making many stops. We did admire and comment about the gigantic ferns covering the forest floor. After the PCT section, we got to our junction with the Heartbreak trail. Just looking up from the junction you get the idea that you’ll have to work to get up there. After regrouping, we started our climb. In past hikes I’ve done here, I usually make some stops along the way to catch my breath and to let people catch up. This time Mary, a fellow hiker, was leading the pace and she was not stopping. I made a point to keep pace and try to make it without stopping. If for nothing else, just to test my endurance given that this hike was the last before my big trip. I got pleasantly surprised when we reached the junction at the top of the climb signaling the end of the grueling torture. It felt good to be up there. Aside from that, there was a gentle breeze keeping us cool and the mountains were all showing their glorious white cover.

We hiked to the view point facing the river where we stopped for lunch enjoying the early flowers and views of Mt Hood

After a good rest, we hiked the summit trail to the north end of the mountain where we made a quick stop at the second view point. We then hiked back down on the west side of the mountain creating a loop. This trail is not necessarily easy even when going down as it’s covered with loose rock and scree. Even with trekking poles, it’s easy to miss a step and slide. Having to keep you balance on the steep incline is tiring. On this route though, we did make a couple of stops just to admire the flowers and the views before getting back down to the PCT. Once there and after recharging a bit with water and trail food, we hiked our way out at a steady pace.

You can see the rest of the pictures here