Today’s hike in the Gorge was spectacular! The sunshine… the
flowers… the view… WOW! It was AMAZING! I have always wanted
to see the hillsides covered in these blooming flowers (Balsamroot and Lupine)
but for one reason or another, I have always arrived too soon or too late to
witness it. Now I know what all the rave is about! I was in
awe the entire time. The beauty of the PNW never gets old.
Lidia and I drove east for this hike to the Columbia Hills State Park in south central Washington. We went to the Dalles Mountain Ranch and hiked on a couple of different trails there. It was cool and sunny with just the right amount of wind. We
started out in light jackets but it wasn’t long before it was warm enough to hike
in our short sleeves. I now have my first sunburn of the year! ;)
The hike was low key and super enjoyable - although my
Garmin still gave me a Level 5 for Aerobic Training Effect so we actually got a
workout… it just wasn’t noticeable... which is the BEST kind of exercise! We hiked a loop in what
seemed like slow motion because we were very busy taking pictures. Oh and I found my very first piece of agate! (My adventure sister was very
proud of me!) I usually don’t have an eye for small little details (like flowers and rocks) while hiking because I’m always too busy taking in the big picture so this find for me
was amazing (and shocking)!
We circled back to the vehicle, dropped off our jackets and extra items
and then headed back down another trail towards the river. We kept taking
pictures but moved a little faster this time – of course it helped that the
trail was all downhill (which meant it was all uphill on the way back). The
beauty was endless! We found a great place among the flowers overlooking the
Columbia River to sit and enjoy our lunch break. We stayed there until my nose couldn’t take it any longer (darn allergies) and then headed back up the hill to complete our
hike. We hiked 7.30 miles with an
elevation gain of just under 1000 feet.
Afterwards we drove a little further east to Horsethief Lake
where we saw an incredible display of Native American petroglyphs. Very cool…
and more picture taking! ;) It truly was a GREAT DAY!
Is it possible to take too many pictures of flowers and Mt. Hood???
Petroglyphs at Horsethief Lake
2019 Hike 11/52
7.30 miles
