Hiking time: 593 minutes, or 9 hours and 53 minutes. Took 168 photos, of which 94 made the cut. Hike started at Multnomah Falls, up Larch Mt. Trail to left on Franklin Ridge Trail to right on Multnomah Spur Trail (Trail #446) to right on Larch Mt. Trail and back to car. Judging from a trail map I have, this looks like a 10.2 mile hike. Judging from my altimeter, total climbing was about 3,300 feet. The Larch Mt. Trail has long stretches full of jagged rocks, both embedded in the ground and loose. This slowed me down considerably, which is why a 10 mile hike took almost 10 hours. I noticed however that young hikers kicked this trail in the butt.

If we rate bad weather on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 no problem, 10 an utter disaster), this hike rates a 7. Forecast was for rain starting at 1:00 PM. It rained enough to shut down photography starting at 9:00 AM to about 11:00 AM. Then the weather gradually improved until there was sunshine about 2:00 PM, then the sky started getting dark and by 2:30 it was extremely dark and a downpour started. It pored for about two hours, once again shutting down photography. Too bad I was so discouraged by all this that I felt compelled to put the camera way, because it would have been amusing to see some shots with the terrific downpour going on, plus it would have added a little drama to these photos.

Also, the forest I walked through on Trail #446 and the trail itself was very scenic and I wish I'd been able to take some photographs during this time and the upper reaches of the forest once I reached the Larch Mt. Trail again. Lots of huge, photogenic trees. The forest was unusual (for forests I've been accustomed to walking through in the last 18 months) and very beautiful. It's called "Mid-Elevation Old Growth" compared to the "Low Elevation Old Growth" that has only been available to me recently. Well, another -- and drier -- time.

The only upside to actually being there was the creeks started roaring. For a few brief hours, the runoff turned from late spring/early summer runoff to the roar of early spring runoff. But the vegetation was soaking wet from the get go, and some stretches of the Franklin Ridge Trail ran through overgrown vegetation 7 feet high and so thick I couldn't even see the trail or my feet on the trail. Encountering these stretches was maddening.

Once it started pouring however, I didn't care how wet I got, and in fact I got absolutely soaked, except my Gortex parka worked like a champ and kept my two layers of shirts dry. I've had this parka for years and this was the first serious test of it, and I was utterly amazed how well it did. But I made a big mistake and tucked my pants into my gaiters and my soaking wet pants drained right into my boots, getting the insides squishy wet. Still, my feet survived with virtually no pain, although I noticed a small blister when I got home on my left big toe. Considering the abuse I subjected my feet to hiking in soaking wet boots on difficult terrain, I'm very pleased with the way my Danner boots protected my feet and enabled me to soldier on in the very difficult conditions.

One feature on this hike that I'd forgotten about (it's been decades since I did this!) is the longest trek through a scree slope I've ever encountered and it was very slow making my way through it. The rain had stopped and the sun actually started coming out (before the big, two hour downpour started) which enabled me to take the camera out to photograph the scree slope. Lots of memories came back going down the Larch Mt. Trail from Trail #446. I'm amazed that I actually forgot all the things that I saw and that I then remembered when I saw them again. The human brain seems to have a boundless memory, that only needs jogging.