Hiking time: 400 minutes exactly, or 6 hours and 40 minutes. Took 176 photos of which 95 made the cut. Took the 12-40mm and the 75-300mm. Used the latter only for a short time. Subject matter lent using the 12-40mm much more often.

This was the first time I'd ever been on this hike. I don't know why in the many decades in the past I could have gone on this hike and didn't. It is certainly regarded highly in the guide books.

The climb to the summit is 2,000 feet in about 3.2 miles, with the last thousand feet in about one mile. This makes guide books rank the hike as "difficult." That doesn't provide enough insight to warn those with short legs like mine to think twice about doing this hike. One high step on the trail in particular was about 3.5 vertical feet at a 90° angle to the horizontal and I had to get down on my knees to safely crawl up the step. That was just the beginning of my difficulties. The trail was full of loose rocks and high steps that made progress tricky and strenuous for me, and this went on for a dozen short switch backs. But finally the trail turned to dirt and the climb of the last 500 feet in elevation was steep but unproblematic. The trail was so physically demanding on my body that I came home with a sore back and I never get a sore back! Ibuprofen when I got home solved that problem.

There was no way I was going to turn around and try to go down that hairy route. I probably wouldn't even have attempted the climb if there had not been a loop as an option that was easier to negotiate my way back to the car. The return leg was 2 miles longer than the ascent and really didn't present any technical problems, although it did have a few steep sections, but on packed dirt. Also it had one long section and several short ones that were uphill, adding a couple hundred feet to the total uphill climb. So total hiking distance was a little over 9 miles and total climbing was about 2,200 feet.

Both going up and going down had many spectacular views of local cliffs and views across the Columbia River to the precipitous mountain front in Oregon, and lots of stunning views down the Columbia River and scenes straight down at the rolling country in Washington near the Columbia River. There were also lots of wild flowers out. In all, a memorable hike that unfortunately I will never do again. I'll miss the scenic splendor of the hike. With all my whining about the difficulty of the Hamilton Mountain Trail for me, I'm proud of the fact that I managed to do it without killing myself, or giving up and suicidally turning around.