Dog(less) Mountain

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a rare break in the rain cloud


Dog Mountain is arguably one of the most popular late spring / early summer hikes in the Columbia Gorge due to the amount of wildflowers in bloom and the views of the Gorge. It has become so popular that you have to get permits on the weekend through late April to mid-June. Due to this fact I have not hiked / ran Dog Mountain in years.

Susan unexpectedly had this past Friday off and texted me that she could run on Friday and Saturday. Knowing that we were going to do our long run on Saturday I suggested we go to Dog Mountain since we didn't need a permit and could get a good amount of vert over a short distance and bonus wildflowers. I decided to leave Cedar at home because I didn't know how crowded it was going to be and having a dog on leash who pulls a lot going down Dog Mountain as asking for problems. 

Susan making her way up Dog Mountain

We got to the trailhead around 8am and there were probably half a dozen cars in the lot, not too bad. It was a little drizzly but according to the weather it was supposed to clear up pretty soon. Well that never happened. It just got worse the higher up we went. Not only were we stuck in a rain cloud with low visibility, it was super windy above the treeline. Nonetheless we were determined to make it to the top. But as soon as we did we turned around and headed back. 

Poor Susan's hands were so cold they were unusable, which makes for a pretty funny sight when she is trying to pull her pants up after peeing. By the time we were within 1/2 a mile of the car the sun came out and it cleared up (of course). 


It finally cleared up on our way down

We decided to head over to Hood River for lunch, but despite changing clothes I don't think I felt warm the rest of the day. Regardless of the crap weather we had a lot of fun on our mini-adventure run. 


New fancy outdoor seating at Double Mountain in Hood River

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