Saddle Mountain!

Yesterday, Reggie and I hiked Saddle Mountain near Seaside, Oregon. Here's what Oregon Parks and Rec. Department website says about Saddle Mountain:

"Two and a half miles. That's all it is from the parking lot (elev. 1,650') to the summit of Saddle Mountain (elev. 3,283'). Be prepared to marvel at the sheer volume of natural beauty packed onto the mountain, from a mature forest setting to fields of wildflowers to an open rocky summit. The view from the top of the mountain is one that cannot be described ... it must be experienced."

It's not a fast hike! All uphill one way, and downhill the other, and sometimes down is harder than up!

The trail starts with some birch forest, then mixes with Douglas fir and some hemlock firs.

The views get better and better the higher you climb. Yesterday was really warm, but also really windy. The east wind, which is usually a cold wind in winter, was a warm wind yesterday. Temps at the trailhead were 50F-in January!
A section of the trail goes through lots of downed trees, probably storm damage. But the trail (and the road leading to it) were well-cleared.
This is definitely old volcano territory. Beautiful rock features to admire! And lots and lots of switchbacks...

We came around the southwest side, and got our first view of the ocean!

A little farther, and there was the saddle. We hadn't been up here for years, and much of the trail is being stabilized with chain link style trail covers. It'll be a lot nicer to hike when it's all finished.

The view from the saddle had Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams. Climbing higher, around the shorter side the trail came from, you could see Mt. Hood on one side, and Mt. Jefferson on the other.

Finally, the top! The winds were wild up there, you had to lean sideways to stand up straight! A plane flying along the coast was lower than the mountain top. Yet even with those steady, strong winds with crazy gusts, it wasn't cold up there!

Now pics of the trail going down. This is late afternoon sunlight-it would be so different doing this on an early morning. That'll be another trip!

A very fun afternoon and hike!