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| Hiking | 14.00 Miles |
5,283 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.00 Miles | 6 Hrs 44 Mns | | 2.08 mph |
| 5,283 ft AEG | | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Hiked the intermediate trail up Dog Mountain, then out to Augspurger Mtn and back down the easy trail to create a very tough loop. Brought Greg on his first "difficult" hike. And boy oh boy did we underestimate this one. Temps in the mid to upper 70s and humidity in the 60s. Most of Augspurger Trail is completely overgrown- forcing our way through all the plants and trying to follow the already sparsely traveled trail completely wore us both out. After turning onto Augspurger Trail from Dog Mountain we didnt see anyone else until we returned to the Dog Mountain area.
There were occasional decent views near the top of Augspurger Mtn, but nothing better than what one can see from Dog Mountain. When we reached an open area that we thought might be the summit, I dropped my bag and hiked forward a ways to see if I could find a good viewpoint. The trail was completely overgrown so I lost it and bushwhacked my way along the ridge until I found a path that seemed to head NE along a ridge (to what I assumed would be a fabulous viewpoint). I followed this path for a ways, twisting my ankle and becoming increasingly agitated with the lack of a viewpoint. I finally turned around and followed the trail back over the proper summit (which was marked by a small sign), then followed a faint path back towards where I left Greg. The path soon disappeared completely, so I headed back the way I had come- following a more worn path that dropped to the North. I soon realized that this too wasn't the correct path ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") , so I returned to the summit yet again and tried to follow the path that disappeared in the bushes. After tunneling my way through the plants I eventually found myself on the path I had started on and hastily returned to Greg- who had becoming increasingly worried when my quick run to scout the summit turned into a 20-30 minute adventure. Whoops
The hike back down was relatively uneventful, despite a slight detour along one of the 4x4 roads by the power lines, we made good time returning to the truck. We both ran out of water shortly before the parking lot, but fortunately it was all downhill and mostly in the shade. We then made a quick stop in Stevenson for burgers at Big T's Grill before making the drive back to Portland. |
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