We saw earlier how to climb to the top of the Larch Mountain crater from the Columbia River on the 1915 historic Larch Mountain Trail. But you don’t have to gain 4,400 feet over the 6.6-mile trek up to Sherrard Point. You can actually cheat and start at the top. Simply drive up Larch Mountain Road to its end. Fourteen miles up from the Columbia River Highway just west from Crown Point. Park in the large lot near the summit.
Continue readingLook out to the east from Portland and your attention draws to the snows and glaciers of Mt. Hood. But search a bit to the left and you can notice another bulky mountain with a notch on its northern rim. This is Larch Mountain one of three shield volcanoes sitting in a line of volcanic vents making up the Boring Lava Field range stretching from Mount Sylvania on the southwest edge of Portland all the way east past Larch Mountain to Beacon Rock standing near Bonneville Dam, almost thirty miles apart in a straight line.
Larch Mountain sits on the western end of the canyon of the Columbia River Gorge rising just over 4,000 feet above the river running about three straight miles to the north of its peak. Coming from the east along the river, Larch Mountain is the last significant Cascade peak on the Oregon side of the Gorge before the mountains begin to ease topographically into the northern end of the Willamette Valley.
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Kennesaw Mountain saw the third time during the American Civil War in which William T. Sherman employed a direct assault upon entrenched Confederate positions. The attack failed as much as his previous two attempts. All through the Atlanta campaign, Sherman had gotten around the Confederate positions set out by Joseph E. Johnston through flanking maneuvers. Sherman wrote to Washington, “The whole country is one vast fort, and Johnston must have at least 50 miles (80 km) of connected trenches with abatis and finished batteries. We gain ground daily, fighting all the time. … Our lines are now in close contact and the fighting incessant, with a good deal of artillery. As fast as we gain one position the enemy has another all ready. … Kennesaw … is the key to the whole country.” For the key, Sherman decided to open it with a direct frontal assault.
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Joseph Hooker, the commander of the Federal Army of the Potomac, stated before the battle of Chancellorsville, “I have the finest army on the planet. I have the finest army the sun ever shone on. … If the enemy does not run, God help them. May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.” Such braggadocio did not go well with Hooker’s Confederate counterpart, Robert E. Lee. Lee kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and was not at all amused by what he read.
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The Columbia River Gorge is one of the natural highlights of the Pacific Northwest. Only the Columbia River penetrates through the Cascade Mountain range and does so in a magnificent manner. Long an important transportation corridor whether rail, old highways, new freeways, canoes or flatboats. Waterfalls tend to bring the tourists to the Gorge along with the views of the immense canyon from spots like Crown Point on the Historic Columbia River Highway. But trails take you to the top of many other vista points as magical as those at the Vista House. Here are a few of my personal favorite Gorge views. Maybe you have others.
In no particular order with regard to personal preference, I present them from west to east.
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The last couple of years, I have linked Heaven and Hell – Angel’s and Devil’s Rests on the same hike – together from the Wahkeena Falls trailhead. This makes a very nice lollipop loop which my corgi Ollie appreciated as much as I did. The Wahkeena Canyon path is quieter compared to the Angel’s Rest trail further to the west, the lack of parking probably has something to do with that. But also, Angel’s Rest is probably the second or third most popular trail in the Columbia River Gorge after Multnomah Falls and maybe Dog Mountain (in wildflower season) and Hamilton Mountain. Just from looking at the Angel’s Rest parking lot on a weekend, I would maybe push it into second spot.
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Lookout Mountain is an amazing place to discover nature, history and enjoy vistas reaching out to a claimed seven states. The Mountain is best explored on foot along its myriad of trails traversing the dense forest slopes of this quintessential Appalachian prominence. Surrounded to the north, east and on top by urbanity, it is easy to forget you are never far from civilization if not for the subtle roar of traffic on Interstate 24 far below.
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The battle of Chickamauga severely troubled the Federal Army of the Cumberland. Mainly due to a failure in command, the Army suffered a stiff rebuke on 20 September 1863 losing over 16,000 casualties. Routed, the force made its way back to Chattanooga thanks to the steady defense shown on Horseshoe Ridge by men scrabbled together by General George Thomas. Luckily, their antagonist, the Confederate Army of Tennessee suffered even more casualties in victory – over 18,000. More problematic for the Confederate commander Braxton Bragg was a large loss of horses for an army already suffering mobility problems before that epic confrontation.
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The Chattanooga section of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park consists of several disparate sections separated by over a century of urbanity. Two of the lesser-known parts of the park lie at the northern end of Missionary Ridge – the Sherman and the Pennsylvania Reservations. These two reserves remember the heavy fighting of 25 November 1863 on Tunnel Hill. Tunnel Hill, so-called for the railroad tunnel for the Chattanooga & Cleveland Railroad. Here, the better part of the Army of the Tennessee, led by Major General William Sherman, with additional troops provided by the division of Jefferson C. Davis and the Federal 11th Corps hit the northern flank of Braxton Bragg’s Missionary Ridge position. The goal was to gain Tunnel Hill and roll up Bragg’s position from that end.
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REHERSAL TO GAIN THE HEIGHTS
The battle of Chickamauga over the last days of September 1863 delivered a severe blow to the Union Army of the Cumberland pushing that army back into the fortifications of Chattanooga while the victorious Confederate Army of Tennessee stood upon the heights surrounding the city – Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.
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