At the moment we found it was going to be a sunny , 65 degree day in early March, we had to hit the Gorge.  Unfortunately, the Eagle Creek fire had destroyed the Columbia River Gorge trails on the Oregon side, so we decided to run Coyote Wall, just east of Bingen, WA.  It was my first time at Coyote Wall, and it did not disappoint.

Many other hikers, bikers, and runners had the same idea.  We arrived at 7:30 am and came back to a parking lot spilling over with cars just a few hours later.

Coyote Wall is on the the rain shadow side of the Gorge, which means fewer trees and generally more sun.  The trails are a spider web like connection (in fact there is a trail called labyrinth,) and are almost completely exposed, so it’s  hard to get lost.  The trails generally climb up the basalt wall and branches out from there.  We ran to the Catherine Creek trail head to zig zag our way to 19 plus total miles. Look out for mountain bikers buzzing pass on the steep descent of the open trails.  Those guys are crazy! There are some challenging technical sections, but in general, it’s just trails cut into the hillside, giving amazing views of the town of Mosier, Mt. Hood and the Columbia River.