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Tomlike Mountain,
Columbia River Gorge |
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The dawn of a new vacation has arrived and with it, a quest. Like most of the beginnings of my vacations, I like to kick them off with a stroll through the woods or at least, something resembling exercise. For this trip, I chose a peak that has recently caught my eye. Tomlike Mountain is the highest point of the Woolly Horn Ridge and is not very often climbed in comparison to other peaks in the Columbia River Gorge. It is 4550 feet in elevation and in spring, keeps quite an amount of snow around it's east and northern flanks. I set off early from work on this Friday in hopes of making it to the summit by nightfall. Taking off from the Herman Creek Campground, I covered ground quickly as the water levels around the creeks were low enough for rock hopping. 2.5 hours later, I found myself at Big Cedar Camp with plenty of time to spare.
The plan of hiking to Tomlike today and having a leisurely stroll back tomorrow seemed simple. I had to be in Stevenson by two tomorrow for pizza and beer with friends at Walking Man Pub. It should be no problem, or so I thought.
Soon after Big Cedar, I passed a few people planning on camping just after the ford of Herman Creek. I strolled by, saying hello, surprised in seeing anyone up here at all. After the ford, with three miles to go, the skies darkened. The weathermen told me repeatedly that there was not going to be any rain today and that the skies will clear up. I brought all the raingear I needed, including my seldom worn boots, to show my confidence in the meteorologist's predictions.
I soon came to the Mud Lake junction and thumped my way down towards the lake. I wanted to see how the lake looked this time of year and to scope out a possible campsite. The weather was becoming a concern and I wanted an alternate campsite in case it was too harsh at 4600 feet.
Wildlife was abundant here in the form of newts. They were everywhere and the swampy mess made it hard not to squish the little buggers. I scouted around the lake and only found marsh. Due tot he snowmelt, the areas that you could normally set up a tarp were under water. I was getting a bit chilly so I decided the best thing to do was to head for the summit.
I worked my way back up to the Mud Lake junction and then towards what I thought to be the Herman Creek Trial. It was covered with snow as I did my best to navigate to a talus field where I could attempt the summit. I climbed up the 40 percent grade and hacked my way through some snow to gain the saddle. I scouted around for a safe place to set up camp. I found one and quickly grabbed my tarp. It was then that I realized, I had forgotten my hoop pole, rendering the tarp useless. Completely devastated and very pissed at myself, I looked at my watch after feebly attempting a makeshift tarp hoop. I had two hours to make it over the ford while heading back to the truck. This would turn out to be a long day indeed.
I snapped a couple picks and then headed back down the now rain slick talus filed, slipping most of the way. I made it to the campers and past the ford just in the nick of time as I only had about a half hour of daylight left. I was getting tired and was completely soaked through. By the time I got to Casey Creek Camp, I was beat and stepped on a wet log embedded in the trail, sending me down face first into the rocks. Luckily I escaped with only minor bruises. I made it home without anymore mishaps and was able to tell my tale to my friends at the Pub, feeling rather stupid, while laughing anyway. Another lesson learned.
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