11 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain •
My new favorite route through Beacon Rock State Park. Started at the Hamilton TH, cut through the campground to Little Beacon Rock, and then XC at the powerlines to the cabin and up through wet Oregon Grape to meet the road near its intersection with the Hardy Ridge trail. Up and over Hardy Ridge (6" of snow and settled thickly in a cloud - snow started around 2,200'), climbing briefly to the first viewpoint (no views), before dropping down to the horse bridge and up to Hamilton Saddle via Don's Cut-Off. Up and over a snow-less Hamilton Mountain, where the afternoon sun shone strong and warm. We got a little of everything: graupel, rain, fog, puffy clouds, sunshine, no wind. A great hike! Ran into a lot of people on both routes.
