I had hoped to do some climbing on the NE face of Mount Hood (Cooper Spur Trail) on this day but my rental car was unable to negotiate the access road. There was some ice and snow on the road and the sign was out saying chains necessary. From Cooper Spur Ski Area, it would have been another 9.5 miles to the trailhead.
I looked for an alternative hike and settled on the nearby Dog River Trail. It turns out that this trail is more well known as a mountain biking trail, but I didn't know what else was around and it looked OK to me.
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| Mount Hood from the NE along Route 35 |
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| This was as far as I could go without chains on the car |
Below is the trail description sign that was at the Dog River trailhead. I decided that this would be the hike for the day. The trail was quite easy to walk on (since it is a mountain bike route) and I quickly walked up onto the ridge where I reached the snow line at about 3000'.
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| Dog River trail description |
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| 10 minutes up the trail, I came face to face with a deer |
I was hoping for some good views of Mount Hood from this trail, but it was socked in all day. I did enjoy seeing the snow though on a warm day in the 40's. Every once in a while, the tress would release some clumps on snow onto me, but that was OK.
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| Starting to reach the snow at 3000' |
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| Up at the far end of the ridge, the trail came out on a forest road |
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| Not sure if this is a Larch tree, or in that family |
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| This sign was attached to the tree on the picture above |
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| Mossy trees down low by Dog River and no snow here |
It was an interesting day, with no snow at the start, yet quite white and wintry looking up high. I did see a couple mountain bikers getting in some last rides before winter. A nice day out.
Hike Stats:
Hike Distance: 10.6 miles
Hike Time: 3.5 hours
Total Vertical Gain: 2860'
Hike Distance: 10.6 miles
Hike Time: 3.5 hours
Total Vertical Gain: 2860'
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| Dog River Trail in relation to Mt. Hood |
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| A larger look |
