Playing hooky at Mitchell Point: 4/13/2007

[jeffstatt]

Jetted out of work early and hit Mitchell Point last Friday.

It's easy to get to (I84 to the Mitchell Point overlook exit). It's like the last hike before you get to Hood River, OR

There are two options here....I guess for brevity's sake I'll call one "Mitchell Point" and the other "Little Mitchell Point". The latter is a great kid's/family hike, and the longer option may be just as nice as Angel's Rest with respect to the view - but a bit easier a hike.


Mitchell Point and Little Mitchel Point from I84



View from the trailhead


View from one of the talus slopes on the way up(Cook Hill in the background)


Nearing the summit. Sometimes you just have to accept two things about hiking in the Gorge: road noise and the powerlines


Looking west from (near) the summit. That's Dog Mt on the right


Looking east from the summit


The Sternwheeler steaming back to Cascade Locks



At this point I headed back down and watched for a spur trail to take me out to (what I'm calling) Little Mitchell Point. Here are some photos:


Approaching the top of Little Mitchell


<-- Seoel: 14,578 miles
Toledo: 6704 miles -->




Mitchell from Little Mitchell


I noticed a tick on the dog when we got back to the car.

I didn't realize that we had lapsed on the tick meds for the dog, so unfortunately we discovered more than 20 of them on him later in the week. I knew in the back of my head that the "eastern" gorge was notorious for ticks this time of year, but I guess I blew it off - counting on the meds to keep Dodger safe. So I guess I pass along that waring to folks thinking about heading out that way

[anna in boots]

Thanks for the photos!

Love those open air hikes--a little hooky, a little exposure, a little steep leg-pumping, it's the definitive cure for Staring-at-the-Screen-Too-Long-itis. Mitchell was next on my list (working my way west from the furthest hikes east in the Sullivan books) so I really appreciate the foreknowledge. I just did Weldon Wagon Trail on Saturday (fabulous!); I'll post as soon as some glitches are worked out--see posted questions.

Dodger is a real looker! Wanna pet that luxurious, glossy fur!

anna in boots

[Grannyhiker]

Beautiful dog!

Just a note re the tick meds (thanks to my-daughter-the-veterinarian). They are not a repellent but work by killing the tick after it bites (but before the tick has a chance to "vomit" any disease-bearing gunk into the dog's bloodstream). It's therefore a really good idea to comb your dog out before letting him into the car. Otherwise you may have a car full of ticks or even bring them into your house! And both Frontline and K9Advantix need to be renewed monthly to be effective against ticks. With Frontline you can go 2 months for flea protection, but not ticks.

This is obviously the year of the tick as well as the year of perpetual winter!

[jeffstatt]

Thanks for the kind words about Dodger. I passed those to along to him. He scratched himself and walked out the room. (Don't take it personally )

After that trip last year we decided to keep him on the Advantix year round instead of trying to time it with the seasons. Mostly because my hiking schedule is so unpredictable with all the travel I do for work.