Hiked Burnt Lake Trail up to ZigZag Mt. Trail and on the East ZigZag Mt. Summit. The hike was 11.5 miles out and back with 2600 Elevation gain. On the trail for 6 hrs. and 15 min.
Burnt Lake – E. Zigzag Mt. Hike
McNeil Point Hike
It has been a long time since I have done this hike and was excited to do it again but maybe to excited. After only a few hours of sleep I was off for an early morning start of the hike. After finishing the stair climb of what Top Spur has become I found I was having a “legs of lead” day. But it was a beautiful and beautiful place so I press on at a slow pace and made it up to McNeil Point. There were many small change that had taken place over the years I was gone and one big one, see the blow down that had happen from the storm about three years ago. I knew Paradise Park trail had been hit by micro bursts but all other place was a surprise. Hopefully storms like that are rarity and not the new norm. Hike was 10 1/2 miles and over 3000 ft. Total elevation gain.
Paradise Park Trail Hike
I had not hiked the Paradise Park Trail #778 in a number of years and was happy to hike it again and see what had changed. My first challenge was finding the new trailhead and finding very large pile of logs taking up most of the parking lot. Once maneuvering around couple of piles of logs I found where the new trail head began.
By the numbers 15.5 miles, 3000 ft. elevation gain and on the trail for about 8 hours.
Dog Mt. Hike
It is time to start doing conditioning hikes again to get ready for summer hiking season. Dog Mt. in the Columbia River Gorge is a good place to start and is one of the classics to train on. The trail is listed at 6.8 miles round trip and 2800 ft. gain. Weather condition were good and the trail was not crowed. The big flower show up on the summit had not started yet but there were lot of small flowers out. I just did a steady pace and enjoyed the hike. By the time I got back to my car my legs were tired so about right for the first time out.
WSU Vancouver More Trails
I returned to Washington State University in Vancouver to explore the rest of the Cougar Trails. I started by going up to highest elevation that gave me great early morning views of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood. I then headed over to the wooded trails that run along Mill Creek. Next I did some connector trails that took me over to Pleasant Valley Community Park. From there I made my way back to my car. The Cougar Trails take you through a number of environments from college campus to open fields to woodland to wetlands to flowing creeks and gives you great mountains view to running water to enjoy. Plus many enjoyable people to meet along the trail.
