Table Mountain - April 19, 2015

Despite already hiking Table Mountain in January, I joined a small group to hit it again on April 19th. The promise of bluebird conditions and a tough conditioning hike were too good to pass up. Table - along with Dog Mountain, Nesmith Point, the epic Mt. Defiance and several others - comprise the Columbia Gorge wheelhouse of trails ideal for preparing climbers for the Cascade volcanoes.

Our group of six rendezvoused at the trailhead around 8:30 a.m. to get an early start to return in time for sports - specifically a late afternoon Timbers road game and Blazers playoff bout. Oddly, as we waited for the group to arrive, a peacock with full plumage strutted around the Bonneville Hot Springs parking lot.

By 9am, we were well on our way through the woods under a slightly hazy blue sky. The trail increased at a gradual rate, offering no warning of the upward onslaught to follow. An hour later after several forks in the road, the path intersected with the Pacific Crest Trail for a short stretch before the start of a brutal route to the summit known as the "Heartbreak Ridge" Trail (with no relation to the Clint Eastwood movie).

Looking down the rock slide on the Heartbreak Ridge trail

We then dug in and pushed up one of the steepest maintained stretches in the Gorge. Within a half mile we had gained a great deal of elevation and could start to see Mt. Hood and more of the Columbia. Although the sky was clear, the extent of the haze - rumored to be from fires in Siberia - became more apparent as we gained vertical feet.

After the brutal push at the start of Heartbreak, we reached a narrow ridge with views in both directions before going back into the forest up a series of switchbacks. We then popped out onto a rock slide extending hundreds of feet up toward the top. As we scrambled upward, most of the rocks held firm, but we had to watch our footing to avoid sending smaller boulders back down the slope.

Team selfie with Mt. Adams in the background

Once at the top of the rock slide, it was a quick dash to the finish and the summit marker. The "Sound of Music"-esque scene at the top was stunning. We counted four volcanoes (Hood, Rainier, Adams and St. Helens), but couldn't see Jefferson because of the haze. After walking out to peer over the edge of the rock face on Table's eastern side, we settled down to eat lunch and stare down on Bonneville Dam. Looking east to west, we could see from the Portland area to the mountains around The Dalles.

With the Timbers kickoff on our minds, we quickly descended after looping across the top of the table-like summit plateau of Table. The hike back to the trailhead went well, but several patches on the backside of the Heartbreak trail required caution because of overall steepness and loose rock. Once in the woods again, we rejoined the PCT and we retraced our steps from earlier in the day. The rest of the hike was uneventful, but still fulfilling as we reminisced about challenges from earlier in the day and looked forward to getting home in time to watch the games.

I'm convinced you can't do much better in the Gorge than Table on a clear day with a good group of hiking companions. The day was my first opportunity to hike with some of the members on the team, and I hope to again. And we were successful at getting back in time for Timbers kickoff!

Here's a link to more pictures from the hike.

Table Mountain - January 25, 2015

Table Mountain wasn't part of the plan, at least not until March or April. But then the weather gods provided a ridiculous opening and an audible was called at the line. Instead of heading out to the scenic and leisurely Coyote Wall-Labyrinth Loop near Hood River, a decision was made to take on Table and its 3200' vertical feet.

Portland remained a foggy mess as we drove east to Cascade Locks. By Fairview, blue started to poke through the clouds and a banner weather day took hold. What made it unusual was the warmth and absence of snow. I left the trailhead in a t-shirt, and later regretted not wearing shorts.

The first few miles pass through the woods north of Bonneville Hot Springs on the Washington side of the river. Eventually the trail intersects with the Pacific Crest Trail and joins the path made famous by the book and movie Wild for a mile. From there the fun begins - most of the elevation gain on Table is concentrated in a loop called "Heartbreak Ridge" (no relation to the movie with Clint Eastwood about the invasion of Grenada). The trail rockets up the side of the hill and almost doesn't stop until the summit. There are a few brief moments of respite, but what really takes away the pain is the view. It's simply stunning. 

As the trail rises, Mt. Hood - the first of the five volcanoes visible from the hike - emerges across the Columbia on the Washington side of the river. Table also entertains by providing varied hiking terrain. One of the more interesting stretches involves scrambling up several hundred feet of boulders as the trail approaches the summit. On this warm January day, the temperature almost felt hot as we ascended, reaching into the 60s with almost no breeze.

The final approach to the top hides the big finish. Upon reaching the apex, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams to the north and Mt. Jefferson to the south, suddenly join Mt. Hood and complete the five. It requires a clear day for this magic to happen.

Left to right: St. Helens, Rainier, Adams

We spent some time walking around the flat summit plateau enjoying the five volcanoes and found a spot overlooking the Columbia and Bonneville Dam to eat lunch. To the west, fog still clung to parts of the Willamette Valley around Portland. After a half hour we started the descent down the opposite side of "Heartbreak Ridge." On a bad day, parts of the downward hike are akin to walking on marbles on a pool table. But the conditions were great and we didn't experience much difficulty navigating back to the PCT, and then hiking the final miles back to the car.

It's an overused word, but the overall experience can only be described as epic: January, 60s, no snow and clear conditions. Cascadia for the win!

Click here to check out pictures from the hike.

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.

Table Mountain - April 25

With a day of great weather forecasted before the return of rain, Keith, Henry (an Australian Sheep Herder dog) and I headed out to Table Mountain on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge on Sunday, April 25. Table is a bear of a hike with over 3200' in elevation gain over an almost nine mile loop.

The three of us hit the trail from Bonneville Hot Springs just after 9:00 a.m. The first mile of the trail shoots through a wooded area before turning into an old logging road. After two miles, we joined part of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

Conditions remained solid by the time we arrived at the beginning of the Heartbreak Ridge Trail leading away from the PCT and up to the top of Table. I've heard there are more difficult hikes in the Gorge than this section, but I have yet to experience one firsthand. From the onset, Heartbreak Ridge hits your quads with a brutal intensity and rarely lets up until you reach the summit.

On a sad note, above the first part of Heartbreak Ridge on a saddle between two rock outcroppings, we reached a marker honoring the death of a hiker - Kate Huether - who fell on March 4 of this year. The ground seemed hallowed in the area surrounding the spot. I truly feel for the loss her family must be feeling. Unfortunately hiking can be dangerous at times. Seeing the marker was a sobering reminder of what can happen when things go wrong.

As we proceeded up the mountain, we then scrambled up a rock slide for several hundred feet. This isn't much fun on a wet day, but today it was a blast. Most of the rocks are decently sized and didn't move around too much as we made our way up. Henry seemed to do better than any of us as he lead the way.

When we finally reached the top, we were treated to views of the pantheon of Cascade volcanoes - Hood, Jefferson, St. Helens, Rainier and Adams. All except Jefferson (only the tip was visible) seemed larger than life. We took some pictures over the precarious edge and sat for awhile enjoying the scene. Keith came through in the clutch and brought several cans of amber ale from Caldera Brewing. I made a mental note to check this place out next time I'm in Ashland, OR. As we toasted our accomplishment, you could hear the low rumble of water blasting through the spillgates at Bonneville Dam more than five miles away.

Before heading back, we traversed the summit ridge (that oddly enough looks like a table), reached the true summit and found several different and interesting vistas of the surrounding landscape. Hood looked especially dynamic - at one point, the top was covered with a cloud. Soon thereafter, the sky cleared and you could see the point of its summit.

On our descent back to the trailhead, we encountered a handful of hikers getting a late start on the day. I don't recommend attempting Table in the afternoon - it's a serious hike that ended up taking us seven hours from start to finish (albeit with a lengthy stay at the top). I worry some of the hikers didn't reach their cars until after dark.

Overall, the Table hike was kick-ass. Perfect weather, great company and few other hikers on the trail made for a banner hiking day. Now on to Hood next weekend!