Aldrich Butte Hike

Tuesday before work I hiked Aldrich Butte on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge. It was a beautiful blue sky day looking out the window. It was actually very windy and only 41 degrees out. Too nice to waste though, so I drove over the Bridge of the Gods and turned left to Bonneville Hot Springs resort. I had seen signs for it before, but didn't know it was a huge place that looked really nice. Started out on a paved path through the resort grounds and then onto a powerline road. Then to a newly built path that connects to an abandoned road that climbed all the way to the top of the butte. At the top was a turnaround with remnants of a guardrail and the foundation of a small building.
The view of Bonneville dam was great with the mountains of the Gorge in the background. Could also see Table Mountain to the north, from the resort Table Mt. is a 10 mile 3400 foot hike- maybe next summer. The wind was strong and cold at the top, so I didn't stay too long. The actual summit was a 20 foot hike up a path to what looked like a monument with stairs and no view.
Made it back to the Jeep with time to spare before work, so I stopped for lunch at a deli in Cascade Locks. Stats: 4 miles 1100 feet gain.


Yesterday swim class in the morning and then run in the evening at 5. It was already getting dark and it started to mist and I didn't feel like running- but training must be done- so I did. Went slow, but tried to do negative splits for laps around the base and the 2nd was faster than the first, but the 3rd lap was slower. Did 5 miles in 44:17 for an 8:49 pace. It was actually 5.02 miles because I couldn't see the GPS in the dark and didn't know exactly when to stop. Next week I'll have to start running before work, didn't like running in the dark.