I made my way towards Dublin Lake for water as I wanted to keep my load light until I climbed to the 4000 foot mark.  Hiking down to the lake was easy as there was not as much snow as in past years.  I did not have to get water from the putrid lake as there was water flowing from the ridge above the lake.

Four liters of water later, I shouldered my pack and made the rather difficult climb out of the lake's small basin.  The sweat flowed liberally as I finally crested the ridge and made my way up the old Tanner Butte trail, formed by wagons and vehicles from the early 1900s.

The top of the ridge proved more difficult that I had imagined as the entire hike from Dublin Lake's fork to Tanner Butte's trailhead was over 4000 feet, holding at times four feet of snow.  I trudged along, stopping infrequently to catch my breath and drink water. 

I found a rocky outcropping and had lunch.  With my late start, I was not sure I would even make the summit as the hike was fine enough even without the goal being met.  As I thought that, I looked up and realized how close to the trailhead I was.  I broke myself from my trance, looking at the Benson Plateau, and shouldered my pack before scrambling my way back to the trail.

As Mt. Hood stood predominantly in the background, I took many opportunities to gawk, hoping the clouds would give me a view that was more grand.

I rounded a bend, wondering where the trailhead was since the trial at this point was completely overrun with bear grass and small pine trees.  At times, I could not make out the trail if it were not for the small amounts of snow left in the wagon tracks.

As I glanced at my left, I could not believe I was here.  The sign was posted quite high as there was no "trail" to be seen.  It was simply as the sign said, a scramble.

Steep, but manageable, I scrambled my way to the summit and had a sit.  I was glad I made it but, time was running out.  It was almost 1:30p.m. as I only had about three hours of daylight left.  I made a call to Heather, something I do not usually do in the back country, telling her I was ok and may be a little later than expected.  I took my time at the summit, spotting Sherrad Point on Larch Mountain, Mt. Defiance, Mt. Chinidere, and Tomlike Mountain, to name a few.

After spotting some remnants from the old fire lookout, I scrambled back down to the trail and double-timed it back to the truck, just in time before the sun set at 4:30p.m..  A memorable place, but I could not help wondering what it would be like if the fire lookout was still there.

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