Table Mountain - June 4, 2011

Saturday (6/4) should have seen the Pentaquest crew eating a sandwich on the crater rim of Mt. St. Helens on the nicest day in Cascadia since last October. But Mother Nature threw a wicked curve ball and made the weather too nice - a combination of new snow on top of a robust snowpack and a forecasted temperature above 80 degrees Fahrenheit forced us to cancel. At best, it would have been a miserable day of post-holing in the snow up 5,000+ vertical feet. At worst, we would have gained invaluable avalanche rescue experience.

As a consolation climb, I joined three members of the St. Helens group - Nate, Liesl and Matt - for a hike up Table Mountain on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge. Table's credentials are legit: 3,200 vertical feet, 8 miles of distance and the quad-killing Heartbreak Ridge Trail loop. I'd avoided Table up until this point because of lingering late-season snow clearly visible from the road. But recent warm temperatures and precipitation had removed all but the hardiest of ice patches on the summit.

The team convened in Portland at Nate's around 7:00 a.m., chased his three chickens around the yard for good luck and departed east on I-84 toward Cascade Locks. Due to the warm weather, we decided to get an earlier start than normal to get ahead of the legions of Portlanders expected to descend upon the Gorge. By 8:30 we had crossed over the Columbia at the Bridge of the Gods, parked at Bonneville Hot Springs and hit the trail.

The first two miles of the route gradually wind through a wooded area, belying the steepness and elevation gain of the latter half of the hike. We slopped through a few muddy stretches and encountered the advance guard of an army of small flies that would haunt us for the duration of the day. Only brisk wind gusts on the summit and exposed ridgelines provided a respite from their unrelenting presence and occasional bites.

By 9:30 we linked up with the Pacific Crest Trail, stopped for a snack and then continued pushing deeper into the woods. We soon reached the start of the Heartbreak Ridge Trail - a brutal loop that rapidly rises from the PCT to the summit and back. Liesl and Matt kept a blistering pace up the loop, with Nate and I lagging behind. Along this stretch I consumed at least a half-Power Bar's worth of fly protein. Had I known this would happen, I could have reduced the weight of my daypack by leaving the food at home. Besides protein, the other benefit of the bugs was that they kept us moving - any muscle fatigue was secondary to our desire to get away from the damn flies!

As the trail calmed to a moderate elevation gain and switchbacks, we passed a group of middle schoolers and reached a rock slide. The trail goes up the slide for several hundred feet before reaching the final path to the summit. We scrambled up the rocks at a good clip, glancing back occasionally at the unobstructed view of the Gorge. Upon leaving the rocks and rejoining the dirt path, we continued upward and soon reached the summit.

Table is one of the most appropriately named mountains in the Cascades. There doesn't seem to be a true summit point - the top extends over a vast area offering hikers numerous spots to rest and enjoy a scenic vista. As we strolled along the summit ridgeline, we could see five of the Cascade giants - Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams to the north; Mt. Hood and the tip of Mt. Jefferson to the south. Off to the east, Dog Mountain and Mt. Defiance could be seen. And to the west, downtown Portland, PDX airport and the Coast Range were all visible. Despite being able to see half of the Cascade's pantheon of volcanoes, the most impressive display was the massive amount of water blasting out of Bonneville Dam to reduce pressure on the upstream dams. The sound of water being released was audible even from the summit.

Here's a video showing the view from the top. The white in the middle of the river is water being pushed through the dam.

We found a spot in the grass and sat for almost a half hour soaking in the view, enjoying a light lunch and sharing a bit of Jameson. The steady wind and occasional powerful gusts mercifully kept the horde of flies at bay. We could have spent the entire day on the summit, but soon the innate desire of most hikers for something fermented and fried kicked in and we departed for the pub. We traversed the summit plateau, crossed a few snow patches and caught several spectacular views to the north of Rainier, Adams and St. Helens before descending down the west side of the Heartbreak Ridge Trail loop. The going was slow in a few places due to the steepness of the rocky trail and several 20+ mph gusts of wind. We could feel the heat - something not felt since last October - with each step towards the trailhead.

30 minutes down from the summit, we reentered the forest and soon rejoined the PCT and the end of the Heartbreak Ridge Trail loop. Roughly an hour after that - chased by flies - we were back at the parking lot. In a blunder that could put a damper on my running game, I twisted my ankle on a mud patch literally within site of the car. The descent is generally considered the most dangerous part of any hike or climb. And I've had my share of bumps and sprains in the past. But never within site of the car! After internally and externally blurting out some expletives, I did my best to shake it off and hobble to the trailhead.

Back at the car, we headed straight for the Pacific Crest Pub in Cascade Locks and then back to Portland. Overall the day was a ten. The flies were a nuisance, but they prodded us along and were absent from the summit when it mattered most. I'm hoping the day marked the true end of winter and beginning of summer. My experience on this is limited, but this is by far the coldest, wettest spring I've seen in the Northwest.

The Pentaquest will (hopefully) kick off officially in the next few weeks with a new attempt on Mt. St. Helens, followed in quick succession by Mt. Shasta and Mt. Hood at the end of the month.