Читать книгу Afoot and Afield: Portland/Vancouver. A Comprehensive Hiking Guide онлайн

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As you hike you will probably see the knobby tire tracks of mountain bikes and the paired crescents of deer hooves. You may also see the makers of these tracks, the former more common on weekends, the latter on quiet weekdays. As for sounds, in addition to birds and wind in the trees, you will often hear traffic on Highway 6 to the right, but the noise is never terribly intrusive.

Beyond the pond you make an extended contour of a forested hillside above the road and then dip into a canyon to cross a jeep road and rock hop across good-sized Dog Creek. Two switchbacks and more climbing now lead you to a rocky, open hillside above the highway. As you hike, keep an eye out for large, old stumps, many still showing that loggers cut slots for springboards. The daring woodsmen then stood on the precarious springboards so they could cut higher on the tree trunk.

The rest of this easy trail alternates between forested hillsides overlooking the road and small side canyons with trickling creeks that provide opportunities to cool off by dunking your head. The trail ends with a short climb to a saddle where there is a poorly marked junction with the Elk Mountain Trail. You continue straight and drop a few hundred yards to the Elk Creek Trailhead.