Coyote Wall-Labyrinth Loop - January 31, 2015

East of Hood River on the Washington side of the Columbia is the Coyote Wall-Labyrinth Loop hike. The six mile circuit involves 1,200+ vertical feet and is generally accessible year round. I went on an overcast Saturday the day before Super Bowl XLIX, full of false optimism that a Seattle win was imminent.

The loop's recently renovated trailhead is a few miles east of the UAV/drone hotbed of Bingen, WA. After parking and gearing up, we followed the trail along an old highway past a small lake, ignoring the spur leading up to Coyote Wall. After another half mile, we left the highway and started up a series of switchbacks on the Labyrinth side of the loop. Although a grey Gorge day, the landscape was still punctuated by bright green moss and the subtle beginnings of wildflowers getting a jump on the spring. The only annoyance was the churlish member of another hiking group loudly opining on her failed efforts at dating.

We continued zigzagging up the hillside along a creek, past several waterfalls and a small cave. Several ospreys and bald eagles circled around us looking for prey while following thermal updrafts. On several occasions we yielded the path for mountain bikers either slogging up or zooming down past us. After a leisurely few hours we reached the top of the Labyrinth trail and looped to the west for two miles toward Coyote Wall. Cloud cover blocked Mt. Hood, but we could still see the landscape leading down to the Columbia in both directions.

At the edge of the wall, we paused to admire the abrupt drop down to the trailhead. The rock face looked like something more appropriately found on a butte or mesa in a Southwest desert. And then we hurried back to the car as the wind started to pick up along the wall. Despite the river being in view the entire descent, it seemed to take much longer than expected to complete the final mile of switchbacks.

View more pics from the hike.