A higher difficulty hike totaling 11.3 miles over 7 hours.
This hike begins at the Herman Creek Trailhead, a delightful parking lot (Bring or buy your NW Forest Pass!) just a mile or two outside the town of Cascade Locks. The hike begins by taking you up through a few switchbacks and a nice open area with power lines before you reach a series of forks. Make sure you print out a map—there are several confusing paths you can take.
Our group started up the hardest part of the hike, some 27 or so switchbacks that lead you up 4000 vertical feet over the course of several miles. While the switchbacks are admittedly tiring, they’re not incredibly steep, leaving ample opportunity to carry out conversation and take notice of the beautiful surroundings, which range from typical evergreen shrubbery, to alpine meadow, to dense trees. Be prepared for fallen trees—a lot of fallen frees. Because this isn’t a super popular hike (we didn’t see any other people when we were on the loop), the trail is covered in fallen trees and large branches that have been relocated by the wind. Based on the number of fallen plant particles, I would avoid this hike on windy days.
