I went on a hike with people from the gym today to Dog Mountain on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. It was rough. For one thing, it’s a bazillion degrees today (less than yesterday, but 90°F+ is still hot for me) and the trail is straight up. It was only 3.1 miles but 2800 feet of climb, or so the intarweb says. It took us two hours to get up the hill and it was STRAIGHT UP. No switchbacks, just straight up. Very much like the other fire trail I’ve been up before. We went up the “harder” trail because the guide book said it was more scenic. When we came back the “easier” trail, it seemed way more scenic and also had flat spots instead of being a straight up slog.

The way back down was a lot more pleasant, though once I got close to the edge of the trail and I met a rattlesnake who was making noises at me, but the noises didn’t bother me. A couple of venomous fangs in my leg would have bothered me. Oh, and my sister also told me the other nickname for Dog Mountain is Tick Mountain and that I should make sure I don’t have any hitchhikers.

In any case, my brain was once again fried and all I can do is tell you to watch this.