Dog Mountain, Augspurger Trail — Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020

I had the privilege of being in Hood River for a couple of days, both of which were sunny.  Chose Dog Mountain and made it a loop hike.  This was my first time hiking down here and I would love to return and explore more trails.

Started at 1015 in the fog which was forecasted to burn off around 1100.  Hiked up the Dog mountain trail and stayed on the “new” trail which is described as difficult (the “old”trail is described as more difficult).  The intersection of the 2 trails is about 1/2 mile after the start.  The fog kept it nice and cool on the way up the steep and pristine trail.  It’s a wide path but so smooth, dry, and not rocky.  When the trail breaks out of the trees at “puppy viewpoint” the wind started picking up but it was nice and cool.  Put on a jacket and kept moving to the summit and layered up.  Amazing views of the gorge, the tip of Hood, Wind Mountain.  St Helen’s and Adams visible to the north.  Hung out for about an hour.  About 8-10 hikers seen all day.  Descended on the connector trail to Auspuger trail which is a more gradual decline and about 0.9 miles longer.  So worth it for the solitude and the views.  Saw a WTA work party, thank you!!  Took the same amount of time to ascent as it did to descend.  What a spectacular hike and workout.