Saddle Mountain

Jay Adventure!, Oregon, Oregon Coast 1 Comment
The view from Waikiki Beach at Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington

While visiting some friends that live in Hillsboro Oregon, my son Hayden and I hiked up Saddle Mt which was only about an hour away from where we were staying. Climbing Saddle was of interest to Hayden when I pointed out that it was the mountain that we could see in the distance when we visited Cape Dissapointment in 2014. What was not of interest to him was climbing the 1600 or so feet of elevation to get to the top. As usual when I take him hiking, he dragged his feet much of the way and complained a lot. His attitude always changes whenever we get near the top of a hike as he starts to enjoy the views and starts feeling like he has accomplished something, but man I tell you. Its pretty rough on dad to get him going. You'll see in the pictures that he stops at literally every picnic table on the short 2 mile hike to take a break. I try not to drag him out too often as I don't want him to be completely turned off from hiking forever, but I do feel I have a responsibility to expose him to hiking occasionally so that one day he might gain an appreciation of all the outdoors has to offer.

This post is not so much logistics as there are many great resources on-line for that. Oregon Hikers has a good description on their site if you are interested in hiking here. Enjoy the pictures.

 

Informative Trailhead sign
Beginning of the trail
I love this saying.
Ready to go.
There are these mile markers every half mile or so.
First break
One of the first good views looking up.
While we were a bit early for flowers, there were a few coming out.
While we were a bit early for flowers, there were a few coming out.
Second break.
While we were a bit early for flowers, there were a few coming out.
Third break. There was some kind of leveling trickery going on with this table. If you figured they would have found a flatter surface for the table, you figured wrong.
Nice smooth trail.
Starting to get some wide open views
Starting to get some wide open views. If you look closely you can see a person standing out on the point on the left.
First view of the summit proper. A little downhill to the "saddle" before the last push to the summit.
Almost.... there...
There is a fence around the top of the summit. He's never seen Titanic so I told him to stand on the fence railing and pretend like he was flying. LOL.
Looking down at the parking lot from very near the summit.
This is a little spur off the summit. I had Hayden take my picture as I walked out there
Looking towards the hike down.
Hiking down from near the summit.
It was a very pleasant day for hiking in Oregon.
This was carved into one of the picnic benches. What can I say?
He said humbug to this side trail.
General Location of Saddle Mt in proximity of Portland

 

Driving Directions per Oregon Hikers: From Portland, take Highway 26 west for 60 miles, and turn north just before milepost 10 onto Saddle Mountain Road. Go 7 miles on this paved, but bumpy road where it ends at the trailhead.

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One thought on “Saddle Mountain”

  • Kristi
    February 1, 2018 at 5:08 am
    Permalink

    Looks like a GREAT DAY!

    Reply

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