Wild flower hike with great views-late April

It's spring time here in the pacific northwest and on certain trails-wildflowers abound. I wanted to go on a hike that would take in some great views plus have wildflowers. A little research and Rowena Plateau Hike and the Tom McCall Point Trail were now on our list. These 2 trails have the same starting place. It was about 1:50 from home, up I-84 to I-30 in the Columbia River Gorge. We passed the Elk Creek burn area, went past Hood River and found our destination. We went on a weekday, easy for us retired people, and less crowds.

We did the Rowena Plateau Trail first. It was easy, on the bluffs overlooking the Columbia River, and was about a mile. My research told me that most of the wildflowers were in bloom. The hike did have poison oak on it, usually mixed in with the real oak trees that dotted the landscape. It was easy to go around the poison oak and still stay on the trail as it was just starting to leaf out. I think in a month or so it won't be so easy to avoid it. I've had plenty of experience with that plant in CA. My research also said that there would be ticks around but we didn't find any...even when we got back. Again I've had plenty of experience with those in CA too. Horseback riding around Folsom Lake in CA has many challenges, some of them annoying such as poison oak and ticks. Anyway, glad to have gone on this hike when we did, not crowded, no ticks and poison oak was easy to avoid. And there were many wildflowers to look at. Some people even had their wildflower identification books with them and this was definitely the place to use that kind of book. Some of the wildflowers.... 





There was a little town across the Columbia River named Lyle. It looked so peaceful.



Some more of the views...and evidence that we were there!







This is a picture that you will see on many of the trail/hike sites on the internet. I saw it on one of the sites and wondered if in real life I could find a picture just like I was seeing on the internet. It's true...it really does exist! It's easy to see from the roundabout in the parking lot. Speaking of parking-even tho we were there on a weekday and started out in the morning the parking lot was busy, not quite full. So if you're planning on going, the earlier in the day the better.



After we went on the Rowena Plateau Trail we went to the other end of the parking lot and started on the Tom McCall Point Trail. This trail was about 5 miles, considered to be a moderate trail. It starts out flat but climbs up about 1300 feet. Here is one of the flat spots with more evidence that we were there.



I didn't think any of the trail was dangerous, there was no fencing along the edges and it didn't seem precipitous. The trail was high and on the side of a hill but with a gentle slope downward.







The higher we went the views got better.





This picture shows the bridge from Hood River to the White Salmon in Washington.



And the views at the top were great! You could see the north side of Mt. Hood



And the south side of Mt Adams in Washington



It was a great day to hike. The temperature was just right. Either hike is good. If you want an easier day just do the Rowena Hike, but if you want more views the Tom McCall Hike is for you-and it's really not that hard. In either case pack your water, food, watch out for the poison oak, use the sun screen, and enjoy the day.