Hiking Dog Mountain, Washington

• Distance: 6.5 miles, round trip

• Elevation Gain: 3,000 feet

• Difficulty: Very difficult

• Solitude: Very crowded on weekends, not crowded on weekdays

• Dogs allowed: Yes, on leash

• Bathrooms: Yes, pit toilet at trailhead

• Fee: Yes, NW Forest Pass

• Other: This hike is permitted on weekends during wildflower season. You can purchase permits at recreation.gov

Hi all. I hope wherever you are you’re having a good day today! Last week Paige and I hiked Dog Mountain for sunset and while the sunset fizzled out, the wildflowers were peaking and gorgeous. When we arrived at the trailhead there were only a handful of cars in the parking lot, so we decided to hike up and back down the difficult route. (A little over half a mile into the hike, the trail splits with a sign that points to a “difficult” route and “more difficult” route. On weekends people tend to take the more difficult hike up to avoid the crowds.) The difficult route is still a hell of an ass kicker and since we were both out of hiking shape it took us a lot longer to get up to the ridge. However, we got up with plenty of time to take some golden hour picture and have a picnic dinner watching the sunset. The hike down took no time at all and we only had to use headlamps and flashlights for the last half of the descent.