Hamilton Mountain- Beacon Rock State Park

Friday evening after work, Adventure Dog and I headed south for the Columbia River and Beacon Rock State Park, hoping that somehow there would still be a campsite waiting for us on Memorial Day weekend, at around 8:30pm.  The weather didn’t seem as bad as I had heard, so I was worried not enough potential campers would be scared away from their camping plans.  I was in luck!  There were 2 or 3 sites left and just a few minutes of “daylight” left for me to set up my tent.  It wasn’t really raining, but kind of misting, so I was grateful for that too.

Saturday morning was overcast, and the forecast called for rain showers.  I geared up and headed out for the first hike of the area, Hamilton Mountain.  Cedar’s retractable leash had snapped the night before, so I had cut the clip off it and tied on about 6 feet of line I got for stringing up tarps or hanging food away from bears.  It tangled in his feet a lot, but we both got used to it.  The day turned out glorious… with only a little rain and some sunbreaks as well.  In addition to the lovely yellow violets and bleeding hearts blooming so profusely in the woods, I was pleased to see more fairyslippers, deerfoot vanilla leaf (also called sweet after-death!), coral root, and the dark blotchy mission-bells.

Hamilton Mountain is about a 9 mile round-trip hike with about 2000 feet of elevation gain, which can be hiked as a loop. 

When we got to this sign, I recalled reading that the right path was actually the easier one, and since I had a steep hike planned for the next day, went right.  Later I realized that what I was remembering pertained to the other hike, so I had actually chosen the more difficult path. 

Two waterfalls grace this trail, Hardy and Rodney Falls.  They were both beautiful, but the coolest part of them, was a tiny side trail to Pool of the Winds.  It was the upper part of what I think was Rodney Falls, crashing down into a deep stone pool it had carved before spilling out and down another fall.  I had to snap a picture fast before my camera got too drenched with mist.

I was not sorry I took the path to the right, despite the steep switchbacks… the views from this direction were phenomenal.  Although there was a cloud cover blocking any view of Mt Hood or St Helens, the surrounding ridges and valleys, drifting with mist, were eerie and beautiful.  I could see the Columbia River as well.

 I soon started to see royal blue larkspur and then this rocky cliff.  I didn’t realize that this was the front side of Hamilton Mountain, and I would soon be standing on the top of it.

There was also a nice view of Beacon Rock.  There is a 1 mile trail to the top of this I would like to do sometime, but I think some of it is a scramble, so Adventure Dog wouldn’t be able to join me.  This towering monolith is actually what is left of the core of an ancient volcano and was named by Lewis and Clark.

I was the only hiker on the Hamilton Mountain trail that morning, and I met no other hikers until I was more than halfway back down.  I absolutely loved the peace and wildness of it.  Cedar and I ate our lunch at the summit, which was silent and misty.

The way back down crossed a small desolate ridge, covered with pumice, and then wound gradually down a wide dirt road/trail through forest.  I liked the texture of this rock face, the way these maidenhair ferns caught the light.

We were almost back, when this cute little rufous-sided towhee flew down to check Cedar out.  Cedar was interested, but only took a few steps and stood totally still while the bird hopped around checking him out.  It looked pretty cute, like they were making friends, but I know Adventure Dog.  He is sneaky and was likely trying to figure out how to pounce.