If you live in the Pacific Northwest or even if you have ever thought about travelling to the Northwest, take a look at Dog Mountain for your ultimate hiking adventure. If you are an avid hiker or even if you are not but would like a challenge, this could be for you.
If you happen to be here in the months of April through June, depending on the weather patterns, you will be greeted with an amazing display of wildflowers against an equally amazing backdrop of the Columbia River gorge and mountain views when you reach the top on a clear day. This year, we are having a late spring—and a rainy one at that. We lucked out on the day we climbed it. There was a threat of clouds rolling in but they arrived later in the day.
The hike is not for the faint of heart. I don’t do a lot of hiking but would like to do more. I am one that has a dream of climbing Mount Everest. I will be turning 60 this year so my time for doing that may be running out. After climbing Dog Mountain, it made me reconsider whether I may be living a pipe dream.
Transportation Options to Dog Mountain
A hiking permit is required to climb Dog Mountain on the weekend. You must reserve these online and they are limited. That is why we took the shuttle. I suggest that you take the shuttle from Stevenson, WA. The shuttle takes you right to the trailhead plus you get a free wrist band that allows you to hike the mountain. You can also drive and park if you have the Discovery Pass but parking is not guaranteed.
It is nice to get an early start to climbing so you can have a bite to eat from the lunch that you should pack. We only brought one container of water. Luckily, it wasn’t a very warm day. Always bring enough water! There is no bathroom at the top, so be advised to possibly ration your water intake or find a private spot to go, I suppose.
Decisions, Decisions! Which road to take.
There are two directions that are available up the mountain. There is the difficult route and the more difficult route. As we came upon the fork in the road and hesitated about which route to take, a young couple came by and encouraged us (or at least I took it that way) to take the more difficult route because it was more direct. We took the more difficult trail and it was pretty much a vertical climb all the way. We took it slow and steady stopping frequently to catch our breath and grab a sip of water. Along the way, I experienced many cleansing breaths, which are the type of breaths you get when you are running. It made me feel good that the younger people climbing also stopped occasionally to do the same.
My legs felt it on the way up but descending the mountain was harder for me and my legs were shaking. I did not wear my hiking boots and wore my old tennis shoes because I thought it would help since it was such a steep climb. I did OK going up but there was loose gravel and fell about three time on the way down. The first time I fell was at the top and a drone (which are not allowed there) probably captured my gracefulness as I waited for my husband to come and assist me to my feet. It was kind of embarrassing falling. Oh, well!
Do Research Before You Go
I poured over websites and googled information on the best time to go as well as the weather conditions which have been very unseasonable for the PNW this time of year. The morning we were supposed to go, we woke up to clouds and my phone said it was going to be cloudy. The location of the mountain was an hour away and I viewed the weather for that location which said partly sunny. It came down to my gut. Of course, I wanted it to be perfect weather and somehow it worked out to be just that. It’s only because it was the all-famed Dog Mountain and I wanted it to be perfect on my first climb. There are so many variables when hiking. I guess that is why it makes it so much fun.
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The flowers were just starting to come on and I feel like I would like to go a little later to see the lupine and Indian paintbrush in full bloom. The abundant, yellow balsam root was magnificent, though! I felt like the hill was alive with the sound of music!
The map below from oregonhikers.org shows the green dotted line as the hard trail and the trail pictured to the right as the less difficult trail. The trail to the left is a little overgrown I’ve heard. It looks more wooded for sure. I had this idea of climbing Dog Mountain in the back of my mind for some time now but never really made the effort to do it. We did not see very many children on the trail. There were a few early teens but expect to take your time if you don’t hike frequently or the possibility of turning back if your child doesn’t want to continue. Of course, it didn’t help when a park guide said they saw a rattlesnake earlier and people were asking us on our decent if we had seen any. We had not.
I know one thing—Dog Mountain has made me want to experience other hiking trails. Come back to this blog for another adventure we took recently.
There were a handful of dogs that accompanied their owners. I asked a couple if their dog also experienced the same expenditure of energy climbing up a steep hillside. They seemed to think so. I suppose the dogs probably whether it better than humans.
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