Fart'n round Ainsworth

We skipped a hike this past weekend because we were dogsitting and it was too hot. Then Keeley left for Calgary and I am alone. I originally had a photoshoot for a friend on Monday morning, but she cancelled due to illness so I had several hours that I had blocked off now free'd up. I didn't want to spend it all in front of the computer, and I guess the constant hikes have me addicted, so I decided to use the free time to satisfy some curiosities that I'd never do with Keeley around. I usually try to pick goofy side missions when I'm by myself, things that I can't justify dragging her along on during our special weekend outings, just small things I wanted to explore to see what's what.

I've got a few things on my list to explore on Dave solo days:
-Perdition Trail
-Backside alt route up Wind Mtn
-Ainsworth
-Table Mtn Aldrich Butte alt paths

My goal was initially the Perdition Trail. A closed former route between Multnomah and Wakeena falls, lower than the current Larch Mountain cross path that goes past the Devils rest junction. This trail used to be right on the cliffs at the edge overlooking Multnomah. A fire in the 90's burned it all down an rendered the area unsafe, and the trail was closed off. All the beautiful craftsmanship that went into the trail is now mostly covered by nature. A lot of long time locals want the trail re-opened, claiming the danger is overstated. Others think it'll never open again because the area is unstable after the fire, and any rock jarred loose from the trail will probably land in the parking lots and highway below. Whatever the case is, the trail is closed and technically illegal to hike. This of course hasn't stopped people from doing it, but it has prevented the average dumb tourist from causing a landslide.

I started from the Wakeena side. I thought it would be easier to slip onto the illegal path from the side less travelled (The Multnomah entrance is in a busy spot and for a monday morning there was still an excessive amount of people). Maybe this was the wrong choice, as I made it maybe 200 feet on the trail. The Perdition, from Wakeena, goes over a log and instantly becomes a loose rocky mess that goes uphill Mist Falls style. Each step causes you to slide a half step back sorta deal. I quickly saw why this trail staying closed is a good thing, I couldn't believe people wanted this re-opened, the slide I was climbing felt incredibly unsteady. Then, I reached the top of this gully, and had no idea where the trail went. It appeared to dead end right up against a cliff. I tried to see what I was missing, and found nothing. I had no idea where to go. So I turned around, looked patiently for anything I missed, and gave up. Maybe I have to start from the Multnomah side, this side was clearly a mess.

So it was already getting too hot and I didn't want to drive all the way over to Table or Wind for more exploring, but I still had an itch. I decided to stop at Ainsworth state park and hike the weeny trail there to have something to mark off on my OCD hiker map. I ended up hiking the bejesus out of Ainsworth so I'd never have any reason to stop again.

Ainsworth state park is between Dodson and Exit 35 off 84 and Horsetail falls. It's mostly a big campground and a small picnic site with some slight access to the 400 trail. There is a small 1.5 mile loop from the picnic area. I did more than that. The loop from the picnic tables goes right on the road for  a tenth of a mile, then stops at a random bathroom. From the bathroom there is a small user path heading up into the woods westward, and a gravel access road heading into the woods and eastward. I took the gravel path. A short jaunt uphill past a junction to the campground, I met up with the 400 trail that parallels the gorge. I went west, away from the car. The 400 is little used and overgrown, but I was by myself at least. The 400 went a mile westward to the Dodson Trailhead (A glorified path next to the historic highway, it doesn't even have a parking area). Right before it dumped me onto the road there was some power lines. To head back I took the powerline access road, which dumped me off back on the historic highway for a quarter mile, and I ducked back into the campground, took the junction back to the bathroom access road, and then headed on the actual loop path west of the bathroom. It also took me up to the 400, to which I turned east, hiked to the junction I started at, then came back, all to say I hiked that small stretch. I reached another junction heading back west, the lower path took me to my car but the upper path went a half mile to the Horsetail falls trail. So I did that too, for shits. Now I can say I've hiked the entire ainsworth area, and my curiosity was satisfied.

There is nothing of much value here. I took no photos. The path is either too close to the highway or too overgrown. No views, nothing. I got solitude, which was about all I could hope for. I have no reason to go back, but I had fun romping through the woods so I can't say I came back unhappy.