This post comes with a story (which is why it has a lengthier narrative than most of my posts). I leave it up to you to decide if it's a comedy or an adventure tale. Maybe it's a little bit of both.
The trail climbs almost the entire way from the trailhead to Angel's Rest. You begin in forest with lots of green plants.
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| Trail Near the Start |
Later you come to an area with an obstacle course of imbedded rocks where you can easily injure an ankle.
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| Ankle Breakers |
Next you follow a small creek for a short way.
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| Coopey Creek |
More elevation gain. Not that there wasn't plenty to see along the way.
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| Continue to Climb |
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| View of the Columbia River |
Now come the switchbacks and big rocks as you make your way up to Angel's Rest.
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| Switchback with a View |
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| Rocks to Scramble Over |
When I arrived, I was so taken with the rock formations that I missed the path that takes you out onto Angel's Rest. It isn't that hard to miss, but I guess my mind was elsewhere.
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| Distracting Rocks near Angel's Rest |
After continuing for a bit, I realized I missed where Angel's Rest is. A big clue was that all of the people who had passed me on the way up seemed to have disappeared. The smart thing to do would have been to turn around and explore the area a bit harder. Instead, I continued until I came to a sign that pointed up the trail to Devil's Rest. Now I recognized the name but couldn't remember how far it was. I thought maybe up to another 2 miles. Anyway, I decided to continue to Devil's Rest.
This trail took me through lots of green plants, including some with thorns, that crowded the trail.
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| Narrow Trail to Devil's Rest |
Later I entered some forest. And I finally made it to the rocky outcroppings atop the hill named Devil's Rest.
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| Devil's Rest |
I enjoyed the journey but was disappointed with the destination because the view was largely obscured by trees (I didn't know there was a spot not too far away with a better view).
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| View from Devil's Rest |
After having a snack, I began my return trip. Here's where things didn't go as planned. I guess I didn't notice on the way up how many trails from other starting points intersected with the trail I was on.
Anyway, I ended up taking the wrong trail branch not once, not twice, but three times. Each time I went far enough to see if I was headed in the right direction only to figure out that I wasn't. So, after backtracking three times, I found the correct route back down to Angel's Rest.
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| Headed Back...Finally! |
When I arrived there, I had a better perspective from the higher elevation, saw where it was, and found the offshoot trail that I shouldn't have missed on the way up.
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| Angel's Rest |
I visited Angel's Rest and enjoyed the panoramic view of the western section of the Columbia River Gorge.
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| Eastward from Angel's Rest |
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| Westward from Angel's Rest |
I then proceeded back down to the trailhead. Although tired, I stopped a few times when certain flowers caught my attention.
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| Blue Beauties |
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| Graceful Petals |
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| Unique Shape & Perspective |
The information I read ahead of time said the Angel's Rest hike was rated hard (I'd stuck to moderate and easy trails before now), 4.5 miles out and back, and estimated to take 3 hours. I knew with it being a climb and how often I like to stop to take photos that it would take me about 4 hours. The added travel to Devil's Rest was an unknown at the time.
In the end, what I thought would be a 4.5-mile hike taking 4 hours ended up being more than 8 miles that took just over 7 hours. Boy, were my puppies tired!
I know...I can see the headshaking and hear the tsking from many of you. They are all well-deserved. In the future, I will take extra time to think through changing plans on the trail. And I'll use better maps and/or electronics to guide me.
But at least I can say it was a day full of adventure...or comedy...or both!
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