Two Chiefs Trail Hike

Overview

Essentially a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail and then an old logging railroad grade that became an abandoned jeep road, this route then was taken over by the ATV crowd. After the area became part of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, ATVs were banned, and the tread has seen use as an unofficial trail that takes you to the base of Table Mountain and then on to Greenleaf Creek, with the upper tiers of Greenleaf Falls a short but rugged bushwhack above. The December 2007 landslide, which spills half a mile down the slope, is just beyond the creek. Now the shorter approach from the former Dick Thomas Trailhead, entirely along the old railroad grade, has been closed off, so the only legal option is to begin at the Bonneville Trailhead. The hike starts at the Bonneville Trailhead, on the Tamanous Trail. Ta-mah-no-ous is a Native American word translated roughly as "vision quest". Young men proved their readiness to be adults by going on a search for guardian spirits. From the parking lot, you start out on a gravel road, but quickly divert up a wooded path that starts straight uphill (Incidentally, if you continue down the gravel road another 100 yards, you'll see where the nearby train track enters a tunnel). It won't be long before you have a nice viewpoint to the south overlooking the river just east of the Bonneville Dam. There won't be much more in the way of views for a while. It is somewhere in this trail section where the route crosses over the top of the aforementioned tunnel...but you'll be hard-pressed to see where! After a little more than half a mile from the trailhead, you'll come to a junction with the Pacific Crest Trail. Turn left and you'll be heading toward Canada (even if you are heading more west than north). There are two ponds near this junction, both unnamed - the first is seasonal and you may not notice it during the warmer months; the other is farther up the trail just an 1/8 of a mile or so: watch downhill and you'll see it between the trees. Follow the trail closely in th

Trail Stats

Photos

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