strange things are afoot on devil's rest

November in Oregon means grey, threatening skies and the dull light of persistent cloud cover. It is the time of year when your love of the state begins to be challenged by the bleak reality of a climate that sees too many dark, dreary days to count.

But then you go on a run like the one I did today, and you fall in love with the beauty of the state and the quirkiness of its inhabitants all over again.

We started at the Angel's Rest Trailhead, a popular jumping off point for many of the gorge's best trails. A quick climb and you are already witnessing your first waterfall.

As we climbed higher into the gorge, we were rewarded with a sneak peak of the Angel's Rest rock formation.

Looking west towards Camas, Washington and Portland. 

Angel's Rest is about 2.5 miles from the parking lot and would make a fine adventure in itself. But you can't really go to Angel's Rest without hitting Devil's Rest too, right? 

After a nice respite for photos, we continued our climb up the Foxglove Trail towards Devil's Rest. It's a pleasant enough trail, but there really wasn't much to look at.

Finally we popped out at Devil's Rest, only to be greeted by a strange sight.

Garden gnomes. With creepy red eyes. Pumpkins hanging from trees. I found four gnomes, though I have a feeling there were more. How funny that folks took the time and effort to hike these things up to Devil's Rest - we're talking at least 3 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing from the nearest trailheads...ah, this is why I love Oregon. We do keep it weird.

Even in the dull light of the overcast sky, Oregon is a beautiful place. Hitting the trails always reminds me of how lucky we are to have these trails to explore whenever we would like.

Route details:

Angel's Rest/Devil's Rest loop