Oregon Hikers

I've always loved cold and snowy weather. It may be genetic: All of my ancestors came from northern Europe and most of those from Norway. Nearly all of them had to endure the Dakotas from about 1845 until after about 1902 when many of them finally got smart enough to come to Washington State and Oregon.

We don't have the kind of weather the Norwegians put up with and surely never the kind of weather common in N. or even S. Dakota so when these rare and wonderful cold and snow events happen I'm all over it.

Today dawned so bright and cheery I just had to get out there and revel in it. I donned the appropriate gear and headed out for the gorge. I didn't even have a firm plan in mind as I drove east on SR14 but I wanted to get back by dark so went as far east as I could given that limitation and ended up at the Dog Mt. TH about noon.

There was only one car in the lot when I arrived, a Subaru (of course, the go-to car of hikers it seems) and evidence of only 6 or 7 hikers preceding me up the trail since the recent snow that started about three days ago.

A few photos on the way to the TH:




I put on my micro spikes at about 1,000' elevation: They were handy for traction on the steeper sections but not absolutely needed. Other tracks indicated hikers with just boots.






As I rounded the corner at the 2,500' level the tracks of previous hikers all but disappeared in the wind driven snow.




It was a bit nippy at the summit but the wind was light so no problem:




Another delightful day in the woods - and the snow. 5.6 miles RT, 2,846 EG.

Get an earlier start next time and you can do Dog twice. I double-dog dare ya.

Chip Down wrote: ↑

February 7th, 2019, 5:31 am

Get an earlier start next time and you can do Dog twice. I double-dog dare ya.

"...double-dog dare..." good one! You are on! Name the date. (You'll be there with me to verify, right?)

oh no, not this again

triple Dog will be next

(actually that was a good thread, repeating ideas are good)

Don, if we ever go hiking together, I fully intend to exploit your knowledge and legendary driving skills.
Dog Mt would be a squandered opportunity.

Incidentally, I've thought about doing Dog three times, with beer, just to say I did.
Problem is, I've never run out of ideas for actual adventures.

I quadruple dog dare you...you'll have to send pictures though...cause there's no freaking way I'm doing that mountain 4 times in a day...

Dog Mtn is great for snow day exploration (easy access, low traffic, familiar). Out of the many times I've visited, I can only remember my snowy winter visits. One has to like wind to visit up there in the snow.

There's a westward traverse below the peak that is technically a candidate for snow slides. I've never heard of it sliding (anyone?). Fortunately, there's a less risky route in the eastward direction.

i was there last week, a little frost on the trees, but no snow on the trails to the summit. But super, super windy.