THE Table Hike, May 19

[OneSpeed]

Announcing the 2009 Tuesday Hiking Enthusiasts (THE) Table Mountain Expedition!

Set for Tuesday (duh), May 19, this challenging hike to a spectacular Gorge viewpoint will wear you out but cheer you up. It's about 9 miles and gains 3,500 feet, much of it in the last mile or so. This hike doesn't mess around, but we can all go at our own pace.

We'll depart from the Gateway Fred Meyer parking lot at 8:30, probably get back to town around 5 -- except that I will probably be camping at Beacon Rock State Park, depending on some combination of the weather, my attitude, and if anybody else wants to camp.

If you want to meet us at the trailhead, that would be the west end of the Bonneville Hot Springs parking lot, time being 9:30.

Please let us know if you're coming.

[BaileyBoy]

I went up there today since the prediction is for showers tomorrow and I wanted to see all the snow peaks rather than see clouds plus I wasn't sure if the Tuesday group allows dogs along.
It's probably the case that all who go on the hike with you have been up there before but since it was my first time I just wanted to pass on my observations. Bailey and I went up the Easterly?? Trail up Heartbreak Ridge and after working our way through the large boulder talus field decided we definitely didn't want to come back down that way. After exploring the top of the mountain we headed down the Westerly?? Trail and found it to be worse than the Easterly since the rocks were smaller and not as stable. I felt like I was going straight down most of the time and the rocks would start sliding and balance was difficult even with trekking sticks.
If I were to do it again I'd go up the Westerly and back down the Easterly - just wanted to pass this on since I'm beat now and won't write my trail report until tomorrow.
Good luck on the weather tomorrow and be safe.

Skip

[Jane]

It will be my first time tomorrow Thanks for the report Skip, and yes we welcome doggies!

[OneSpeed]

Thanks, Skip! My sense is that we'll go up and down the new trail, but we'll see. As for the weather, I feel like a cool, cloudy day with sprinkles is a fine choice for this out-of-shape hiker to tackle a big steep hill like Table.

And yes, we love dogs! Looks like next week will be Dog Mountain, in fact, so plan on that.

[nyxlily]

I would come if I could, but not my day off this week