4.6.13 A good hike on a wet day!

[pdxhikerguy263]

I fell in love with this little overlooked loop hike a few years ago and have been returning a few times a year since. Either direction that you take this hike you will be following a gated road up a good portion of the way. This time I was I chose to hike is a counter clockwise manner and started at the trailhead as the back of Beacon Rock State Park. There is good signage on this trail now so it is tough to take a wrong turn but just for the sake of wanderers... you will want to follow the road uphill for about 1.5 miles to the second left. This is the spur road that takes you up the eastern flank of Hardy Ridge. Simply follow this road out to its end and you will come to a "Foot Traffic Only" sign. The spur road ends here and a fairly new connector trail traverses through the forest for 3/4 of a mile or so to the ridgeline. Views will be sparse until you get to this point.... Once on the ridge you will want to follow the developing trail north as it gains elevation and climbs through several wooded areas and through a saddle before opening up into a rockier ridgeline...leading to Phlox Point. On this particular day the weather was totally fogged in and we didn’t take the hike quite this far but on a clear day you will want to as it offers a great 360 degree view of the gorge.... looking down on the back of Hamilton Mt, and a great view of Adams, and Table Mt, Dog Mt, Wind Mt, and many other gorge peaks. From this point retrace your steps back to the point you gained the ridgeline and take the trail off the west side of the ridge to switchback down to a another road.... follow the sign left and follow it downhill... making one more right on the main road until you read the trailhead... I have don’t this trail in about every kind of weather including snow.. but as usual... always a treat on a clear day! I will try to post some picts later.

Happy Trails!

[Splintercat]

Welcome to Portland Hikers -- looking forward to seeing your pics!

Tom