Dome Rock

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Greg and I had reservations at Gold Butte Lookout this weekend and before heading up there on Saturday we decided to do the short hike up to Dome Rock from the upper trailhead on Road 2223. Even from the road we had a good view:

View from Dome Rock Trailhead

Before we even started the hike I was standing at the trailhead waiting for Greg to finish getting ready at the car. An unleashed black and white dog came down the trail and started barking and growling and acting aggressive. A few moments later a group of about six or seven hikers came up behind. I said “You might might want to leash your dog if he’s not friendly.” One of the hikers said in a sarcastic tone “That’s a novel idea” and continued to his car. Meanwhile the other unleashed dog – a pug – was jumping on me over and over again. Another of the hikers kept repeating “Stop it! Leave it!” But the dog paid no attention and only stopped when he was picked up and carried away. No one apologized for the behavior their dogs. What if that pug had jumped on someone who hated or feared dogs and (I would NEVER do this) what if that person had kicked the dog and injured it? I love dogs, but I do not want to be barked at, growled at, and jumped on by your out-of-control dogs. The lack of apology, the assumption that they have nothing to apologize for, just made it all the worse.

We set off down Tumble Creek Trail #3380:

Hiking to Dome Rock

We passed the side trail to Tumble Lake (we’ll do that another day) and then reached the spur trail up to Dome Rock. Just 1.25 miles from the trailhead we were up on the summit and wow, what views! It was a cloudy day but fortunately the clouds were high and we could still see the mountains.

Looking west to Tumble Lake and Sardine Mountain:

Dome Rock

iPhone panorama to the west:

Dome Rock view - west

This is one of those early lookout sites where panorama photos were taken. This is looking the same direction as above in 1933:

North:

Dome Rock

iPhone panorama to the north:

Dome Rock view - north

In 1933:

South (that’s Detroit Lake down there):

Dome Rock

iPhone panorama to the south:

Dome Rock view - south

In 1933:

Notice the Three Sisters, and to the right of them the Three Pyramids:

Dome Rock

Olallie Butte and Mt. Jefferson:

Dome Rock

Mt. Jefferson:

Dome Rock

Battle Ax Mountain to the west:

Dome Rock

Dome Rock

The lookout was built in 1929, pictured here in an undated photo:

Although it was removed sometime in the mid 1960s, there are a few remnants still:

Dome Rock

Dome Rock

There was a lot of broken glass around from the long-gone lookout:

Dome Rock

Dome Rock

Where the lookout once stood:

Dome Rock

Dome Rock

After enjoying the summit for awhile we hiked back down:

Dome Rock

What a great spot! I can’t believe I’ve never hiked here before. I’ll definitely come back on a sunny day.

Dome Rock