The last time I did this hike was Friday, May 15, 2015, 12 days ago, and I got lost trying to find my way back. This time I had no problems finding my way and as a result my toes did not ignite in flames of pain from too much prolonged hiking. This is an 8 mile round trip hike involving a climb of about 1,850 feet, including the ups and downs. There are occasional steep pitches but for the most part, this is a moderate hike -- if route-finding is successful.

I've been waiting almost two weeks for the overcast to go away so I could do this hike again and actually see the scenery beyond what was under my nose (wild flowers!). So today we had sun and warmth. On my traverse of the ridge to the summit, I was charmed by two beautiful garter snakes dashing from the trail into the brush. When I arrived at the Hamilton Mountain summit, the air was so thick with flies and mosquitos I was sure they would carry me away to their lair so I slapped my insect repellent on as quickly as possible, followed by sunscreen. From that point, the biting insects bounced off me as if I were a brick wall they were encountering and I escaped being eaten alive.

Got in the trailhead at 7:51 AM. Total hiking time: 7 hours, 15 minutes, and 26 seconds. This includes about a half hour of talking with two different hikers I met going in the opposite direction, so we stopped and chatted. The Equestrian Trail starts at an elevation of 785 feet and the route climbs to 2,488 feet on the Hamilton Mountain summit. Milestones:

1. 1:09:20 o'clock (1 hour, 9 minutes and 20 seconds from the trailhead): climbed 1,550 feet in 1.8 miles to a four way trail junction. Straight ahead on Equestrian Trail.

2. 2:26:49 o'clock (1 hour, 17 minutes, and 29 seconds from previous milestone): just before crossing Hardy Creek a stretch drops a surprising 120 feet to the creek and then start climbing again to an intersection with the Upper Hardy Creek Trail, where I made a mistake 10 days ago on my way back and got all confused. Turn right to stay on Equestrian Trail.

3. 3: 3:33:20 o'clock (1 hour, 6 minutes, and 30 seconds from previous milestone): Pass Don's Cutoff Trail on left and continue up to the end of the Equestrian Trail to an open ridge that leads to the trail to the summit of Hamilton Mountain. From this point, mountain bikes are banned, for the good reason that the route is so steep and in places rocky that it is impassible to stay on bikes and they would have to be carried. Nevertheless I ran into a couple bikers that went beyond this point and to the summit and then (apparently and suicidally) decided to take the Hamilton Trail back down. At at the end of the Equestrian Trail, the trail to the Hamilton Mountain summit becomes very narrow and in places steep and rocky. The spectacular open ridge looks east to the Table Mountain ridge-line and to a great view down to the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

4. 4:04:38 o'clock (31 minutes and 18.51 seconds from the previous milestone): arrived at the summit of Hamilton Mountain, which was infested with biting bugs. Stripped off my upper layers of clothes and applied insect repellent and sunscreen. Bugs just stupidly bounced off me after that without biting.

5. 4:53:27 o'clock (48 minutes and 48.48 seconds from previous milestone): arrived back at the end of the ridge leading up to Hamilton Mountain summit, 0.8 miles from the summit. Stopped and chatted with a fellow 66 year old ex-hippy for about 15 minutes.

6. 5:37:39 o'clock (44 minutes and 12.13 seconds from previous milestone): back at milestone 3.

7. 5:58:08 o'clock (20 minutes and 29.14 seconds from previous milestone): back at milestone 2.

8. 7:15:26 o'clock (1 hour, 17 minutes and 17 seconds) back at car.

Took 154 photos of which 91 made the cut.