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A few weeks ago I went hiking twice in Bull of the Woods Wilderness south of Mt. Hood in Oregon. The first hike was on a Sunday. I woke up late, but the sun was shining so I decided to look through my trail guides to see if I could find something. When I'm looking for half-day hikes I usually try to find a trail 5 to 10 miles long, far enough away from it all so there won't be many people out but within a two hour drive from where I live. Bull of the Woods Wilderness looked like just the trail for me. I hike fast so I figured I'd be fine starting the 7.5 mile trail before 3 PM.

The drive there was gorgeous. I hadn't been south of Oregon City before Sunday, and the Clackamas River was chock full of people out boating, camping, fishing, paddling, and just soaking up the sun. I passed Bagby Springs on the way to the trailhead and considered stopping, but put it off for another less-crowded day. Door to trailhead was a 75-mile drive, and it took me two hours.

My dog was excited to start so as soon as I laced up my boots we were off. We ran into two groups in the first ten minutes but then didn't see anybody else until we were almost at the top. The top, in this case, was a lookout tower at the peak of Bull of the Woods Mountain. The elevation was about 5500' (we started at 3500'), and the views were incredible. I could see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, and the Three Sisters, plus loads of other peaks that were below the tree line. After a quick bite to eat (I had plans to go have steaks at a friend's house that evening so I didn't want to get too full) I started down. Most trail guides that I've seen suggest going past Dickey Lake, then up to the lookout, then down past Pansy Lake and out, but I accidentally went the other direction. My hike on Sunday took right at three hours.

My friend had the day off on Tuesday, and I did my best to describe the road to the trail and the trail itself as well as possible so that I'd have somebody to go with. I really was struck by how beautiful it was up there, and I was looking forward to going again. We left at 10 AM (as opposed to 1 PM, which is when I left on Sunday) and started hiking at about 12:45. The drive was a little faster without traffic, but just as pretty. This time my friend, my dog, and I went up the three-mile side of the mountain. We tried to stop at Dickey Lake, but there wasn't a convenient access point. We fought our way through the brush around the lake to look for a good spot to get to the water, but then we lost the trail. My friend became irritated while I backtracked and yelled to follow me, and we eventually made it back to the trail. We passed two women just before we got to the top. They were both carrying lots of camera gear, and they assured us that the view was worth the hike. But I already knew that.

We reached the lookout tower and ate a nice meal'I had packed tortillas and hummus, which really hit the spot. We dozed off in the sun for a while before heading down. Just after we began our descent we ran into a large group of kids, maybe high-schoolers. We found their gear a little farther down, and it looked like they were going to be out for a few days. Lucky kids. We made it to Pansy Lake and found two men at a campsite. We talked to them for a while before trying to swim. The water was clear and warm, and there were lots of salamanders (newts?) swimming in it. It looked very inviting, but as soon as we stepped in we sank up to our shins in mud. The water quickly turned murky, so much so that my dog was too timid to step where he couldn't see the bottom. He just pawed at the water plaintively.

Speaking of my dog, I should mention that he's really just a puppy (not quite a year old), and I've been working hard to train him and give him plenty of exercise. I took my dog snowshoeing and camping in late winter, and we've gone hiking plenty of times this spring and summer. He loves it, and best of all, he really listens to me when there aren't other dogs or people around. That's his thing: he's a very confident and friendly dog so sometimes when we're in an area with lots of dogs or people he won't obey very well. But on the trail it was great. I was even working with him some, playing hide and seek, asking him to come if he went around a bend too far ahead of us, and playing fetch. It's a good feeling to be able to trust a dog on his own, and even though I'm not to that point in the city, hiking is a lot more fun when you don't have to carry a leash.

Anyway, back to Pansy Lake. I found a large dead log that I pulled into the water to serve as a raft, but it wasn't quite buoyant enough for me and my friend. We got out, talked to the campers for a few more minutes, then headed out, making plans on the drive home to go back to Timothy Lake, Bagby Springs, and more trails. I also really want to paddle or float down the Clackamas this summer or fall. The hike on Tuesday took about six hours because we went slower than I did by myself, we stopped at the top longer, and we went swimming.

It's a tough call which direction I like more; that is, whether I like going uphill past Pansy Lake or uphill past Dickey Lake. But either way, the view from the lookout tower is worth the hike.

Also, if you want to go hiking with me (or try other sports), please check out my partner listings at AdventureTaxi.com.