Beacon Rock. Time to Roll!
Sep. 12th, 2022 07:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerPacific Northwest September Travelog #16
Beacon Rock State Park - Mon, 5 Sep 2022, 2pm
I've written two blogs already about hiking at Beacon Rock State Park without mentioning Beacon Rock. Yes, the park does have a namesake! It's a volcanic spire hundreds of feet high that stands near the edge of the Columbia River. We weren't sure we'd have energy to climb it and also visit places like Pool of the Winds (previous blog). We visited the falls first and figured "wait and see" for the rock. Unfortunately Hawk suffered a small slip on the trial that wrenched her back a little. That meant doing steep, extra hike was out. But fortunately there was an easier option to at least see Beacon Rock.
From our trail there was a short spur trail to Little Beacon Rock. Little Beacon is the volcanic rock pile you see in the photo above. The trail comes around to it from the back side, where it's mostly atop solid rock. If we were to climb up those volcanic boulders... well, that would be pretty treacherous.
From the top of Little Beacon Rock we could see out across the Columbia River Valley. There's Beacon Rock in the middle. Yes, here atop Little Beacon Rock we're actually higher that the top of not-little Beacon Rock. I figure the diminutive name is not because of elevation but because of prominence. Beacon Rock really does stand alone at the edge of the river valley, and from the bottom it looks like it rises almost straight up.
As I write this we're done with hiking for the day. We got back to the car at the trailhead then drove to one of the park's picnic area... where there are bathrooms with running water. We washed up a bit, changed into street clothes, and packed our suitcases for the airport. The suitcases were already two-thirds packed; it was just a matter of breaking down our hiking equipment and packing it. Now it's time to get some lunch (late lunch) and head to the airport.
Beacon Rock State Park - Mon, 5 Sep 2022, 2pm
I've written two blogs already about hiking at Beacon Rock State Park without mentioning Beacon Rock. Yes, the park does have a namesake! It's a volcanic spire hundreds of feet high that stands near the edge of the Columbia River. We weren't sure we'd have energy to climb it and also visit places like Pool of the Winds (previous blog). We visited the falls first and figured "wait and see" for the rock. Unfortunately Hawk suffered a small slip on the trial that wrenched her back a little. That meant doing steep, extra hike was out. But fortunately there was an easier option to at least see Beacon Rock.
From our trail there was a short spur trail to Little Beacon Rock. Little Beacon is the volcanic rock pile you see in the photo above. The trail comes around to it from the back side, where it's mostly atop solid rock. If we were to climb up those volcanic boulders... well, that would be pretty treacherous.
From the top of Little Beacon Rock we could see out across the Columbia River Valley. There's Beacon Rock in the middle. Yes, here atop Little Beacon Rock we're actually higher that the top of not-little Beacon Rock. I figure the diminutive name is not because of elevation but because of prominence. Beacon Rock really does stand alone at the edge of the river valley, and from the bottom it looks like it rises almost straight up.
* * *
As I write this we're done with hiking for the day. We got back to the car at the trailhead then drove to one of the park's picnic area... where there are bathrooms with running water. We washed up a bit, changed into street clothes, and packed our suitcases for the airport. The suitcases were already two-thirds packed; it was just a matter of breaking down our hiking equipment and packing it. Now it's time to get some lunch (late lunch) and head to the airport.
