Larch Mountain Climb

This morning after dropping Alex off at school, I climbed Larch Mountain, a 3500 foot summit in East Clark County.

I had talked to Alex about doing this, and was planning on just driving around the area to see how close you can drive to the summit. I found that the closest point you can drive to is a mile and a half away, and 800 feet below. I parked the truck and, since I was THIS close, decided to hoof it.

The walk took 45 minutes. It was 1 ½ miles, with an 800 foot elevation gain. Most of it was through a clear cut, offering magnificent views of both Vancouver and Camas (and beyond!) Higher up, however, I walked into the trees and also into the clouds, so by the time I summited, the view was gone. The last ¼ mile was through snow.

At the top of the mountain, I came around a bend onto the summit, and there before me were two giant radio towers. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had endured this strenuous hike in near-freezing temperatures, and instead of a territorial view, I got radio towers. Quite anti-climatical.

I had begun driving toward Larch Mountain at 10:00 this morning; I parked the truck at 11:20; I summited at exactly noon. By 12:40, I was back in the truck. It was a cold, dry day, but once I got into the clouds, it was much colder, and the summit was fairly windy.

When I got back to the truck, my fingers had begun loosing feeling, and I was ready to just sit with the heater on for a few minutes.

As an aside, as soon as I turned the first corner on the walk, I began wondering whether I had left the truck lights on. All the way up and back, I was thinking I would probably come back to a dead battery. It's a manual, though, and was parked on the top of a mountain. I figured I could pop the clutch. Thankfully, I had turned the lights off, and the truck started right up.