Getting There
Take WA-14 from Vancouver, WA east toward N Bonneville.
Just
after Doetsch Ranch you'll see the Ranger Station on the north side of
the road just before the Beacon Rock parking lot, then another road
across from the bathrooms. The road winds up the hill for a bit.
There was an unattended sign that the main parking lot was full but a few cars had left. The upper parking lot was also open just before the entrance to the parking lot.
The Hike
 |
| Footpath app (Mapbox) map |
Length: 5.51 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,110 feet
Highest Elevation: 2,382 feet
This was my first time back to Hamilton since September 15, just a couple of days after escrow closed on my house. To reiterate again, I've been sidelined due to metatarsalgia in my right foot. After a tentative hike up Beacon Rock in my street shoes and a hike on Saturday up the Wahkeena Trail (and down the Multnomah Falls/Larch Mountain Trail), I'm feeling like I can tolerate the pain and am not doing too much damage.
With the forecast of winter rain and dropping temperatures, I figured I'd squeeze in one more hike. The sun was partly showing in town (Portland) so I went for it!
Welp. As I was rolling through Washougal, I could see the trees swaying in the wind, even without many leaves on the deciduous trees. The dense, low clouds in the Gorge was a warning that the weather was going to be a thing. I always worry about branches coming down while driving out Hwy 14 but I only saw a few signs of falling debris.
As usual, I got a later start that I should have for a winter hike, esp. with diminished sunlight from the overcast skies. Since I was still testing my foot, I gave myself several outs: Rodney Falls, Baby Hamilton, Little Hamilton. I switched my soles out for the blue Superfeet and added the metatarsal pad under my sock. Both were helpful to minimize the discomfort.
During the ascent, my legs felt strong and I did not feel like I'd lost much stamina or strength after my hiking hiatus. I powered up the the sections with relative ease.
I paused briefly at Baby Hamilton to snap a couple of photos. I felt like I could make it to the top with plenty of time for my descent.
I encountered a few more people in this upper section. On the last section, I counted the 14 turns. Around the 12th or 13th turn, I started to see frost on the ground and hear hail or ice bouncing off my jacket. On the final approach, the ground was nearly all white where you could see sky. Under the covered sections, the ground was bare.
At the top, the wind was blowing pretty good. As I expected, the visibility was low and I reveled in the elements. Yes! I was 3pm and I had plenty of time to get back to the car before it got too dark. I didn't have my rain gear (d'oh) but did have my headlamp. Fortunately, I have not had to use it.
I took a detour to check out the scene from Little Hamilton. Damn it was windy.. like knock-you-down strong gusts. I stayed well enough away from the edge but it could have been too much. Fortunately, the wind was blowing from the cliff side, so not a shear drop but still.. no bueño.
I saw two people at the top of Baby Ham and two more at the bottom of it. I doubted they had enough time to reach the top and be down before dark. Those people started later than me! In reality, if there was a place to hike in the dark, this place seems pretty safe, given my experience here and well-traveled route. Still plenty of tripping hazards though.
I took a detour to check out the scene from Little Hamilton. Damn it was windy.. like knock-you-down strong gusts. I stayed well enough away from the edge but it could have been too much. Fortunately, the wind was blowing from the cliff side, so not a shear drop but still.. no bueño.
I continued my descent and confirmed my foot was still doing pretty good. Just the usual amount of pain.
The power line towers at the junction to Hadley Grove were whistling in the wind. I got a couple of videos but when I tried to capture a really loud whistle, none happened: like trying to capture bird song on video, they get shy or something.
I reached the parking lot around 4:30p and it was pretty dark. There were still 4 cars in the lot. I saw two pairs of people return while I was warming up the car. Presumably, that woman I saw near the top was on her way.
