The weekend of May 15 and 16 2010 marked my second trip to the Columbia River Gorge area this year. Previously this year, I came down and hiked the Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail and the Weldon Wagon Trail. Due to the rain that weekend and poor planning on my part (the campground I was planning on staying at hadn't opened yet), I cut that trip short. This time I did a little more research and found a campground that was not only open, but is fairly new and has hot showers!
So after my 3+ hour drive to the Gorge, I head up Hwy 14 on the WA side and stop at Beacon Rock State Park for my first hike up Hamilton Mountain. I later find out that fellow NWHikers are camping here this weekend and are doing their own hikes! I always seem to almost cross paths with folks I know about only to find out about it later. Perhaps I should attempt to plan a hike with some fellow nwhikers (or Portland Hikers)?
Anyways, back to the mountain. Hamilton is relatively low at around 2400' and is open pretty much year round. There are some steep cliffs so it is advised to practice extreme caution if going up in the winter. The climb goes up past a couple viewpoints of some waterfalls that marks the turn around spot for a lot of the hikers on this trail.
There is a point on the trail where it splits for a loop option and you get the chance to do the difficult Hardy Creek Trail to the top or the more difficult Hamilton Mountain Trail. Well, duh! I chose the more difficult route. After a couple miles from the trailhead on the more difficult route, you come to an open area that is real cliffy but very scenic with views down to the river of Beacon Rock and the Bonneville Dam complex. This is also the turn around spot for many dayhikers.
After a few photos, I kept going up the trail through forests with on again, off again views across the valley to the west towards Hardy Ridge. After about another mile I came across a group of about 8 hikers that were kind of standing around the trail. One of the hikers was sitting on the ground and had an ace bandage wrapped around her ankle. I asked one of them if they had a cell phone or needed help. They said they had a phone and they were planning on going up to the top since there was a dirt road that they could use to have the lady evacuated. I hoped she would be OK and wished them good luck and I hiked on. Before long I was on top of Hamilton. I stopped for a snack, took some pictures and was on my way. Hamilton has a nice little open ridge for a good ridge walk. I tried to take lots of photos but it was a very hazy day and a lot of them did not come out very well and the ones that did come out were a result of lots of post processing.
I worked my way around the ridge and was on my way down when the trail turns into a dirt road. Soon I see a Washington State Parks truck come flying up the road with lights blazing. Almost an hour since I saw the lady with the sprained ankle. Not exactly a timely response but better than nothing I guess. They probably couldn't find the keys to the gate. The trail/road at this point follows Hardy Creek down to the junction I mentioned earlier, difficult or more difficult?
After a couple miles and a lot more pictures, I was back at my car, ready for my next adventure.
But first I needed to find that campground and get myself set-up. I wanted to give some attention to the campground because it was really nice to stay somewhere that wasn't too crowded, was clean and quite. No train noise since it is about 3 miles away from the Gorge. Oh and did I mention hot showers? If you are wanting to camp in the Gorge and the state parks are full try out the Timberlake Campgound.
The campsite I stayed in was nice and flat and they put down soft wood chips like they use on playgrounds where you pitch your tent, so no mud to deal with. They are located between Dog Mountain and Stevenson. It is an RV park, so if you have something against RVer's, it probably isn't for you.
After setting up camp I headed east to the Coyote Wall / Labyrinth hike I had my eye on. Coyote wall is a big area that is used a lot by mountain bikers and there are lots of trails that run through the area. The Labyrinth is located between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek. For more details on this trail and how to get here, see Northwest Hiker. The trail starts from Rowland Lake and you actually walk up the roadbed of what I believe is the old hwy 14.
After half a mile or so of road you will pass a waterfall, and then you will see the obvious trail leaving the road on the right hand side. Take it, and start climbing the hillside. You will go by an old mineshaft or perhaps it is a cave and you will cross the creek again that turns into the little waterfall you saw from the road.
This is a Mountain bike made trail so in a couple spots there is a bit of a rut but not too bad. There is also one little section that made me wish I had my trekking poles because it was very steep and you could see where others had slipped. This trail is not too long, and after you gain 5 or 6 hundred feet and go through some very pretty White Oak trees you will come to a branch in the trail that goes left or right.
I followed the directions from the site mentioned earlier and took the path to the right. You will come to a barb wire fence that has been knocked down. go over this and continue on a little further to a little knoll with a great expansive view of the river.
I stopped here but there is plenty more trail to explore, including the left branch of the trail that I didn't take. This is snake country folks, no doubt about it, so you want to have that in mind when you come here. I saw one baby rattlesnake that slithered off before I could grab my camera and another greenish white snake that I have yet to identify.
Lots of rustling noises in the grass indicating lizards or snakes. Ticks are abundant here as well so be prepared. After a short break I headed back down to my car, taking care on that steep part so I didn't fall on my ass, which almost happened anyways and watching out for snakes. I was now ready for my next stop, Tom McCall Preserve.
Tom McCall is over on the Oregon side at Rowena Crest. I drove east and took the bridge across at the Dalles and headed west from there. To access Rowena, you have to get on the Old Columbia River Scenic Highway. Follow the road until you see a sign that says Rowena Crest. Park here and you have the opportunity to either hike to the top of Tom McCall Point or you can hike the Tom McCall preserve, also known as the Rowena Plateau.
Since I did the Point last year I thought I would hike the Plateau this year. The trail is only about a mile or so but I really came here more to take pictures than to hike. I didn't realize that there is a couple of ponds on the plateau.
I hiked down and saw a couple deer meandering around near the first and bigger of the 2 ponds so I took a bunch of pictures of them. It was that time of the day when it just starts to get dark and the deer come out, a special time of the day in a very special place.
Tom McCall along with the Goat Rocks are among my favorite places in the world, its hard to explain. I'm sure later in the year when it is dry and all the flowers die off the place has a different feel, but in the spring with all the flowers and when everything is green... its heaven on earth. Not much more to say about Tom McCall Plateau. I took a bunch of pictures, some came out, a lot didn't. Some look fake and artsy with the post processing I did to try and salvage them but I like them all the same.
Next stop, dinner and an appointment with a hot shower at the campground. Tomorrow is an open book and I wasn't sure where I would be hiking.
So the next day I get up and make a quick breakfast and break camp. I decide to head over to the Oregon side again and check out Elowah falls and possibly hike up to Munra Point. Munra is supposed to be really neat but to get there you have to take an unmaintained user trail that is not recommended when it is wet due to the steepness and slickness of the trail. So on my way over what happens? It rains a little. Not so much to keep me from going up Munra Point but the threat of thundershowers is in the area so I decide to just check out Elowah and McCord Creek Falls and call it a day. I still had a 3 hour drive home and I'm sure my family would like to see me for a little bit before the weekend is over. I park at the trailhead and start out on the trail. It quickly goes by a big old water tank and some old rusted pipe that was installed God only knows when.
Elowah Falls Trail, Relics from the past.
After about a mile you come to a split where you can go up to McCord Creek Falls or continue on to Elowah Falls. I decided on seeing McCord first. The trail switchbacks up the hillside until you come to a cliffy area that has a guardrail. This was an extremely pretty part of the trail because there were flowers growing out of the cliffside, almost like a hanging garden of sorts.
Soon you come to the double falls of McCord Creek. The falls were real nice but I really enjoyed the hike up more than anything else and soon I was headed back down to the split in the trail so I could see Elowah Falls. I think the hike to McCord from the split was like .7 miles and to Elowah from the split is like .4 miles. In not too long I was at Elowah. There were perhaps half a dozen photographers with tripods here as the falls were extremely pretty. Too crowded for me though. I waited my turn for a spot I wanted to shoot from, got a few pictures and called it a day.
