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8.5 miles of hiking • 1750' elevation gain •

Bored with A/C, and having just heard about the fire on Mount Adams, I decided to head up to Larch Mountain for a quickie. The immediate good news was, there was no visible plume rising up in the Trout Lake area! There was a thin layer of smoke across the northern horizon, though.

Anyway, it was a weird hike, starting at the high point and dropping down the crater rim to Multnomah Spur, only to climb back up to where I'd started. Decided, along the way, to walk out the "road" to the gate, just to see where it went. The trek through the crater itself was very odd, in that it was sooooo dry! Even if I'd never been there before, it was abundantly clear this trail was more often a creek. Lots of rocks and roots. Kinda fun seeing it so bone dry.

All in all, this is a great little getaway when it's really hot in the city. Very forested, and much cooler than down below. I probably added an extra 1.5 miles and 250' just wandering needlessly. Could've been a 7-mile/1500' loop hike. Got back to Larch, and the skies had cleared even more. Sure hope they can re-open Adams by next weekend!

Comments

Woodswalker hearts this trip.

Woodswalker
July 6, 2015

That's a great hike! Although I remember thinking that the little stretch that goes east to hook up with Oneonta went on longer than I expected.

Karl
July 6, 2015

First time I've done that as a loop. I agree, it's really a nice option, particularly for folks who may not want to do the full trip from Multnomah Falls. Was surprised how pleasant the temps were, too, given the blast furnace conditions down below!

JM
July 7, 2015

I like your last pic of the Columbia. Imagine all those suckers down there, melting.

Karl
July 7, 2015

OMG, yeah! As I was driving out there, looking south along the Sandy River, I just couldn't believe the sea of humanity down there. They had to be using each other as PFDs! LOL...