We decided on the most visually distinct mountain in the gorge. It doesn't have the cliffs of Hamilton or Table, or the lumpy meadows of Dog, the sharp point of Mitchell, or even the crazy rock formations of Yeon and Nesmith, but Wind Mountain is an unmissable thing.
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| From google |
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| Seen from Dog Mtn |
There are posts on various hiking books that state Wind Mtn was one side of a mountain then the Columbia tore it in half during the Missoula Floods many ages ago. Looking at the other side of the river, I can buy it, they look similar.
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| Shellrock Mtn, OR. the other half of Wind Mtn? |
Shellrock Mtn is a terrible difficult turd of a mountain though and doesn't have a proper hike attached to it. Besides, it's ugly and stupid and no one likes you, Shellrock.
Wind Mountain is on the Washington side about 15 minutes out of Hood River. It's billed as Dog Mountain lite: Less popular, less steep, less elevation gain. It's surprisingly difficult to find the trailhead since it's not nearly as popular as it's big lumpy neighbor Dog. You have to drive a little over an hour from PDX, take a small exit, drive up a couple tiny roads up and then the road ends and you park in a random small dirt lot behind the mountain. Then you walk down the forest service road next to the lot and you finally see the trail proper heading off. Then it becomes another classic gorge hike. Wind Mtn goes up at a moderate grade along the east side of the mountain until it reaches a somewhat flat spot, then curves back up into something steeper. You cross a few rock slides then boom, right at the top. The top is covered in indian relics, it appeared the Native Americans used Wind Mtn as some sort of ritual site and there are several rock forts built around the summit. There are also signs telling you to NOT TOUCH THAT STUFF. Nothing stops you from doing so, so if you are a dick you can go right ahead and sit in the holes. We weren't dicks.
When we were up there, being January, the summit had some snow on it and visibility was a little less than optimal, but the atmosphere was great.
Wind Mountain is on the Washington side about 15 minutes out of Hood River. It's billed as Dog Mountain lite: Less popular, less steep, less elevation gain. It's surprisingly difficult to find the trailhead since it's not nearly as popular as it's big lumpy neighbor Dog. You have to drive a little over an hour from PDX, take a small exit, drive up a couple tiny roads up and then the road ends and you park in a random small dirt lot behind the mountain. Then you walk down the forest service road next to the lot and you finally see the trail proper heading off. Then it becomes another classic gorge hike. Wind Mtn goes up at a moderate grade along the east side of the mountain until it reaches a somewhat flat spot, then curves back up into something steeper. You cross a few rock slides then boom, right at the top. The top is covered in indian relics, it appeared the Native Americans used Wind Mtn as some sort of ritual site and there are several rock forts built around the summit. There are also signs telling you to NOT TOUCH THAT STUFF. Nothing stops you from doing so, so if you are a dick you can go right ahead and sit in the holes. We weren't dicks.
When we were up there, being January, the summit had some snow on it and visibility was a little less than optimal, but the atmosphere was great.
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| Looking east towards Stevenson |
I kind of want to go back. The hike was fun, we were alone, but the top was freezing and I wasn't in proper hiking shape at the time, so it hit me hard.
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