10.5 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Decided to try to Catherine Creek/Coyote Wall Loop. Initially started out exploring and looking for the natural arch on a side trail. Went a little further than we wanted but the trail was pretty so nothing lost. Backtracked and went up the way we needed and took a little side trail to check out the "old stove". Turned around and continued on the old road heading towards coyote wall. Looked for some relics along the way, an old homestead turned out to mostly be a pile of wood and no wildflowers yet.
Continued onwards on the old road till we hit the edge of coyote wall, and then the wildflower show started. Not quite Dalles Mountain ranch display, but a very nice show so far.
My hiking partner was a little tired from trail keeping on Wygant the day before and I was a little tired from a long week at work, so we opted for the road as a return, but quickly regretted it. Very little shoulder. In hindsight, we should have just sucked up the 1000 ft of gain and went back along the Labyrinth trail and met back up with the trail that would take us back down to the Catherine Creek.
Photos if you click on my gps track below.
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