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Dog Mountain, Columbia River Gorge |
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Having it now be our pre-hiking tradition, it is a strange sense of contentment having morning coffee and bagel from Bagel Land. We set out early this morning for one of the harder hikes in the Columbia River Gorge. With me were my new Asolo GTX95 light hiking boots, ready to tackle the longest, hardest hike of my life.
Out of the gate we climbed hard and, well, slow. It was all I could do to keep up with Bob who could hammer out the hills with the best of them. Soon within the hike, we were awarded views for our efforts.
After the last forested bend, we came out of the woods. I could not believe my eyes. The flowers, called Balsamroot, were expansive.
The views were the best, in my short hiking life, I have ever seen.
At a lookout called puppy point, I started to wonder what the damage to my aching heels was. The boots I was wearing were tearing bloody holes into my heals. This was one of many hard lessons to be learned as a beginning hiker.
Incredulous, I stood there pondering my few options. My heals were bleeding through my socks as huge pieces of flesh were hanging off me like an over ripe banana peel. I looked over my shoulder to the summit and saw no other option. I hiked the rest of the way to the top and soaked up a good, long rest including a mandatory summit photo was shot before the painful descent.
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