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.
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.
Looks like a GREAT DAY!