Dog Mountain

Dog Mountain - one of my favorites and one of the more challenging hikes in the area. Permits are required to climb it from April to June. Wait... what? June? Really? (I just looked that up.) I thought they were required through September. huh. I could have been hiking it!  Because of the permits (the need to plan ahead), I choose to hike other trails during the summer but always miss hiking on this one. When my Adventure Sister asked where we were hiking this weekend, I was quick to say, DOG MOUNTAIN, PLEASE! It did not disappoint! In fact... it made me a little disappointed in myself! The hike nearly kicked my butt (I really need to eat better.). The old Dog bared its teeth, snarled, and growled... it pushed and challenged... and it make me work extra hard today. WHAT A BEAST! 

And I loved every minute of it! ;)

Another cold, windy, and wild hair day!

2019 Hike 48/52

6.75 miles; 2816 feet of elevation gain

Tom Dick and Harry... yes, again!

Tom, Dick and Harry... always a favorite and a trail I seem to hike on more than any other lately. I love this hike! Today the weather was moody! It was overcast and cool. It rained a little on our way up and then again when we were almost back to the trail head. It was windy and cold at the top - much too cold to sit for even a minute. We hit the summit, took a couple of pictures, and headed right back down the trail. We eventually stopped for a quick bite to eat near Mirror Lake but it was still too cold to sit for long. I was hiking with a friend I met in August on the Round the Mountain adventure with the Mazamas. It was great to see her again and catch up. As always, it was a great day spent outside!

2019 Hike 47/52
7.54 miles; 1659 feet of elevation gain

Silver Star and Sturgeon Rock

What an awesome day!

We hiked up Silver Star and visited both summits - socked in with the clouds and cold air on one and saw the sunshine from the other (they are literally right next to each other but the weather changes in an instant around here). We took our usual amount of a gazillion pictures, had a snack and headed back down the trail in search of Sturgeon Rock.

Silver Star summit in the distance.

Sturgeon Rock seen from the trail going up to Silver Star

Mt. Adams

Mt. St. Helens

Adventure Sisters - Always!

Gazing at Mt. Hood

It was a bit windy up there!

We did not know exactly which trail would lead us to Sturgeon Rock but we headed off in its direction. We walked on a rocky trail covered in branches (obviously not used much) and then found a more established and clear one which gave us the confidence that we were on the right track. The trail was new to us - which is always exciting - and it was soft, not rocky like the main trail up to Silver Star. It was a welcomed change.

We eventually saw the massive rock through the trees high above us. Woohoo! “Sturgeon Rock is a large basaltic monolith just to the west of Silver Star Mountain. It gets its name from its fin-like appearance when seen from Silver Star.”

My Adventure Sister has a great sense of direction and almost NO fear. I trustingly follow her anywhere even while I am dragging along my big, heavy fears like pulling a dog on its leash through the front door of the vet’s office. She knows me well. She never hesitates to say something like, “stay down and let me check this out first” or “don’t come this way” and always says, “you can do it!” She's such a great hiking buddy! I appreciate her patience and understanding because balance is definitely not my most highly developed skill. Thus... the F.E.A.R.

We headed straight up the hillside right through the trees and underbrush. No trail... just a target we were aiming for. The hillside was STEEP and I did not believe I was going to be able to climb up it. No. Way. I wanted to succeed and stand on the top, prove to myself that once again I was capable of something I doubted I could do (good grief... this was just a "little rock," right?) but this seemed absolutely impossible, not to mention utterly terrifying.

Over the past three years I have conquered most of my fears, become more agile, more balanced, and a lot stronger. I was going to push myself out of my comfort zone again today and make it up that blasted hill no matter how much effort and bravery it took (definitely a lot of both!). Up I went. I clung on to every rock, branch, twig, shrub and clump of grass I could find. No lie. This was one. tough. scramble for me.

Then, there it was, the top of the slope. I could stand up straight again. Whew! Never mind the daunting task of getting back down… I would worry about that later.

Knees shaking but all smiles!

We continued climbing until we made it to the high point. I was on the top of Sturgeon Rock, y'all! In fact, I climbed up to the top of a point that was on top of Sturgeon Rock!  I was so proud of myself that my cheeks hurt from smiling! High Five, Sister! I made it!

Lidia showing us where we had come from - Silver Star in the distance

One proud mama

Always a boot shot!

Feeling the confidence! ;)

We spent about an hour up there taking pictures (of course!), laughing, smiling and refueling. The view was amazing and we just didn't want to give it up. (I didn't want to climb down either.)

To get off of that mammoth rock we found a trail to follow instead of going down the way we had scrambled up. It was still crazy steep in some areas and I found myself sitting down and butt-scooting my way through them. Whatever works, right? ;)  I made it down without incident (thank my lucky stars!) and smiled all the way back to the trail head. It was one very special supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day!! 

2019 Hike 46/52

8.76 miles; 2512 feet of elevation gain