Angel's Rest

The weekend was amazing: sunshine and temperatures in the 70s! On Sunday, we went to the Columbia Gorge to hike the Angel's Rest trail, which took us about 3 hours. We started at the river and hiked up about 1500 feet. The trail was pretty busy, especially compared to Smoky Mountain standards. And there were a lot of people with dogs (many of them carrying backpacks), another unusual sight if you've hiked mostly in the Smokies for the last several years. We hiked past a waterfall and blooming trilliums. At the top, the wind was really whipping, you can tell by looking at my hair - the Gorge is known for gusty winds (it is a prime spot for windsurfing). The bolders at the top would've been a great spot to enjoy the view and eat our sandwiches but we had to find a more protected spot to sit down. After our hike, we stopped at the Lucky Lab pub, where we sat in the sun and rewarded ourselves with a drink.