Warrior Rock

This hike (walk) is on the north part of Sauvie Island which is 10 miles north of Portland.  The island sits between the Columbia River and the Multnomah Channel and is mostly farmland.  They also have quite extensive wildlife habitat preserve areas and is well known for it's wild bird population.  The hike itself followed a path for about 4 miles until you reach the old warrior rock lighthouse.  The path was mainly surrounded by trees but occasionally the trees would part and you would get a breathtaking view of the channel and Mt. St Helens.  Today was an exceptionally nice day and I had view of all three mountains, Mt. Hood (the pointy one), Mt. Adams (the rounded one), and Mt. St Helens (the flat one). The path was lined by osprey nests that sat on navigational stanchions in the water and I had a great view of ospreys up close and of the little heads sticking out of the nests.  I also saw numerous bald eagles, great blue herons, and red tailed hawks, among many other smaller birds.  There were so many birds that for the first hour I was pretty much walking through my binoculars.  

The path starts at the end of Reeder Rd through a pasture where you actually have to climb over the fence to get on the trail. I was a little wary of getting shot but went ahead and did what my magical hiking book told me to do and it led me straight to the trailhead.  Throughout the pasture there were these things that reminded me of the LaBrea Tar Pits and I couldn't figure out what on earth they were until a light come on in my head and I realized they were cow patties.  Instantly a fear I have never known came over me when I thought of the monstrous size a cow must be to leave these behind and I got out of that pasture as fast as I could.  Honestly, this thing must be the size of a dinosaur.  It was ghastly.

The walk was pretty uneventful and I was getting a little annoyed at how long it was taking. Its pretty much a straight shot through the woods on an old road for 2+ hours. I was beginning to think maybe I took the wrong trail when suddenly the trail turned to the right and I came out at the lighthouse.  It was absolutely beautiful. Mt. St Helens and Mt. Adams were in clear view, the river was still, and the town of St. Helens was right across the water.  It was a nice place to eat lunch.  There was a couple there that had taken a boat to the lighthouse and it is by far a better means of transportation.  I recommend taking a boat. TAKE A BOAT.  I cannot tell you how irritating it was to have to walk back.  Supposedly the hike was a loop but I never found the other trail so I came back the way I went.  It was about 5 hours of straight, level walking with no variation in the environment. I was bored and didn't want to walk anymore! I actually reverted to singing Navy cadence songs in my head to encourage my feet to continue taking steps.  8 miles isn't too bad, it was just 8 miles of the SAME DARN THING. When I got back to the pasture and spotted my car there was great rejoicing until I realized it was still at least a half mile away.  Then I thought of the helllish creature which lived in that pasture and that was all the encouragement  I needed to hasten back to the car.

Something to be aware of if you go down Reeder Rd - it is a nude beach.  The road is separated from the beach by a small bluff so if all the nudies kept their nudism on that side of the bluff there wouldn't be a problem.  However, on the drive out there were so many naked people I was trying not to look at I almost ran them over on accident.  And then of course you have to wait for them to cross the road and pretend to be really interested in something in the car or overhead or ANYWHERE ELSE.  It was quite a shock but it did lead me to my new favorite public sign... ENTERING CLOTHING AREA.    

Overall this was not one of my favorites.  It seemed to drone on and on and on and there was nothing really interesting about it.  The lighthouse was great and maybe this would have been nice for a family and friends outing.  For me, I was glad to get home.