5 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Third of three "little" hikes today, also to somewhere I'd heard of but never been. This one seems like a real gem. The trail is nicely graded, with just a slight rise up Marsh Hill. Lots of flowers scattered amongst the oaks, and pastoral tranquility atop that first rise. Stumbled across a baby rattler sunning himself on the trail, there. Dude was all attitude! Made me smile.
Probably waited too long in the day to finally make it over to the grand finale - Chatfield Hill. Wow! Every bit as dense a show as Sevenmile Hill, albeit on a much smaller scale overall. Awesome view of Mount Hood on the way up, as well, and great look over to Mount Adams looming over Tracy Hill once on top. This is definitely a place to bring folks without the stamina for most Gorge hikes.
Getting back to the Overlook on US-30, I decided to follow the trail downhill to see how it connects to the rest area on I-84. Along the way, caught some more good views of the Catherine Creek area across the river, and wandered past some really stunning pinnacle formations that few probably know about.
Fun exploration that only added about a mile and a half, and a few hundred feet of climbing, to the end of a most incredible day!
