Cape Horn - January 12, 2014

A day after the strongest storm of the winter (thus far) hit in the Pacific Northwest - and after watching the Seahawks advance to the NFC Championship Game - I joined four others to hike the Cape Horn loop trail in the Columbia Gorge (7 miles, 1,200 feet) instead of doubling down on another afternoon of NFL action. The decision was definitely the right call.

View from the amphitheater.

After breakfast at Gravy in Portland, we crossed into Washington and traveled along Highway 14 through Camas and Washougal to the trailhead in Skamania County. This was my first time visiting Cape Horn, and the first time anyone in the group had hiked the entire loop. Over the past few years, the Cape Horn Conservancy - a volunteer non-profit dedicated to the stewardship of the trail - has performed substantial work on the trail and closely engaged with nearby landowners. We were all impressed by the product of their labors.

Around 10 a.m. we hit the trail clad in Gortex, but soon started shedding layers. A light, steady rain fell for the first few hours of the hike, but gradually transitioned to a gentle mist and then nothing. It was hard to believe that the day before a sensor recorded a gust of 52 mph near the trail.

Although the rain was light, the trail retained a considerable amount of moisture. As we gained elevation, our boots and pants began to attract mud. After a few miles we traversed over the highest elevation of the day and reached a clearing. It was obvious work had recently been performed in the area. As the trail gradually descended, we stopped at what looked like a newly-installed amphitheatre with an epic view of the Columbia and the Gorge. It's a vista worth seeing, even by car without going on the hike.

Set from The Hobbit, along with a waterfall.

The weather continued to clear as the trail dropped, crossed under Highway 14 and reached almost to the edge of the Columbia. In a few spots the trail zig-zagged through rockslide areas that looked like something from the New Zealand set of The Hobbit. Along the river, the trail passed through an area closed from February 1-July 15 to protect falcon habitat. We were fortunate to miss the closure by several weeks.

For the rest of the day, we paralleled the river and traversed below several mightily impressive waterfalls. And then we followed a road that passed by several farms before crossing back under Highway 14 and returning to the parking lot. Once in the car, we headed back to Portland for something fermented and fried at the Hophouse.

Wins of the day: much better weather than expected, great hiking companions, epic amphitheater, Tolkien-esque terrain and waterfalls galore. Lesson learned: don't store gum in the pantry. My wife brought trail mix that had apparently spent too much time next to a Costco-sized back of spearmint gum. Although the chocolate pieces tasted vaguely like a knock-off Andes mint, the cashews and other nuts tasted like they had gone through the wash with a dryer sheet.