climbing to devil's rest

At long last, Devil’s Rest.

I thought climbing to Devil’s Rest was just for the badasses.

Perhaps that’s running to Devil’s Rest I am thinking of.

Julie and I set out to conquer the Devil’s Rest loop mapped out on version 3a.2 of the Gorge Waterfalls 50k. Armed with shorts and lightweight jackets, we figured the 2,400 ft climb would get cool, but we had no idea what was in store for us.

The beginning of the climb we knew so well. The quick jaunt from Multnomah Falls to Wahkeena Falls, the climb up the switchbacks, scrambling up the creek’s edge. We had even taken the #420 trail off to Angel’s Rest at the first intersection, but soon we came to where we had turned the wrong way on our first adventure. New trail!

We were quickly rewarded with a magical spot I had first read described by Gordy Ainsleigh – the beginning of Wahkeena Creek where it bubbles up from the ground. One hot summer’s day I want to hike up those pools and sit for awhile.

The trail then continued on along the ridge towards Angel’s Rest, rewarding us with pristine, quiet forest and views of the Gorge below when the clouds parted enough to reveal the landscape below.

The miles clicked quickly by as we soaked it all in, and before we were at the ominous looking Foxglove Trail marker. You know the Foxglove Trail, right? Wait, what? It’s not on any maps? I’m sure it’s fine!

Thankfully the trail must get regular use, as it was easy to follow as it wound it’s way steadily up towards Devil’s Rest. But that’s when the weather started. Rain, first. Then hail, heavy at times. The trail grew steeper, and we worked harder to climb. Finally, snow and rain fell on us, and we could feel the cold seeping in. As we huddled under a large tree and ate some food, I couldn’t help but laugh that not only were we out there slogging through the mud in that weather, we were loving it.

After another tough climb, we hit the top – the wildly anticlimactic Devil’s Rest. Clouds socked what limited view we had, so we headed off down the mountain and ran along what must be a beautiful ridge with sweeping views of the Gorge…on a sunny day, anyways.

Thankfully we could feel the temperature rise as we dropped, and pretty soon we were warm and chatty again. Descending came easily and before we knew it, we were back on familiar trail, heading down to Multnomah Falls.

We had a bit of extra time, so we thought we’d run up the Larch Mountain trail – that is, until we saw the rickety bridge with the warning sign that only one person should cross at a time due to storm damage. No need to go on, we decided! Another mile down, and we were back at the car, reliving the adventure under skies now growing sunny. A fantastic day on the trail and another good climb to add to the training bucket.