Today I wanted to take an advantage of recent warm weather and show my grandmother some higher terrain I enjoy in summer (she enjoys hiking in the mountains, but we never were lucky to convince her to visit PNW in the summer). We went to Saddle Mtn in the Coast Range, hoping for an open road and little snow on the trail, and weren't disappointed.
The weather was partly sunny and cold. Trail was snow-free for a little over a mile, then it was covered in 2-3 inches of snow, and sometimes ice. Old tracks were all iced over but it was not too bad. There were a couple of minor blowdowns and many broken branches on the trail but in general it was in a good shape. Once we got to the "hump" where trail gets more level the snow drifts suddenly became knee-deep but there were other people's tracks so we didn't have to pothole. The trees were frozen with rime, views were beautiful even though sun was now hidden in the clouds, but east wind was horrible. Once out of trees, it was difficult to walk against wind and now the temps were near freezing. We decided it was not worth climbing to the summit today - the windchill was just too cold. In any case, our plan was to enjoy the day, not to conquer the summit.
On the way down, we met about half dozen people, some of them looked much better prepared for the weather than we were, but two or three people were hiking in shorts (!).
It was a great hike on Saddle considering it's mid-December
Saddle Mtn. from Humbug viewpoint
Saddle Mountain (almost)
- morrisphil29
- Posts: 45
- Joined: July 6th, 2010, 9:29 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
Re: Saddle Mountain (almost)
great photos, beautiful day! Hope your grandma had a great trip.
One foot Two foot Red foot Blue foot
Re: Saddle Mountain (almost)
The snowy evergreen bows are Christmas-card-pretty! Glad you paid attention to conditions and intuition and didn't push further than what felt safe. Was the metal gabion over the trail sections, if exposed, icy or slippery at all when walking on it?
Re: Saddle Mountain (almost)
great photos! looks like it was a great day to get out there. I remember an earlier discussion about the trailhead and parking at Saddle Mountain - some talk of winter closures - was it open? I guess it probably was, since you got in there. Either that or you walked from the gate...?
I can't imagine hiking in shorts on a day like that. brrrrr.
I can't imagine hiking in shorts on a day like that. brrrrr.
Re: Saddle Mountain (almost)
The road was open all the way to the trailhead, no snow or ice. I remember one gate about 1.3 mile from TH so if they close it it's not far from the mountain. Can't recall if there's another gate closer to SR26 they may close. One fallen tree blocks about half of the road but it's easy to go around if you see it in time.
We had indeed great time out there; the wind in the trees was not bad - it only became strong when we got in the open. The metal gabion had a few inches of hard snow on it so it was not slippery, we only had to step on the edge of the trail to avoid ice in the middle where other peoples' tracks turned icy. The "log bridge" (two logs placed over wash-out about 1 1/3 miles up the trail) was really icy; probably it was the only hard part.
We had indeed great time out there; the wind in the trees was not bad - it only became strong when we got in the open. The metal gabion had a few inches of hard snow on it so it was not slippery, we only had to step on the edge of the trail to avoid ice in the middle where other peoples' tracks turned icy. The "log bridge" (two logs placed over wash-out about 1 1/3 miles up the trail) was really icy; probably it was the only hard part.
Re: Saddle Mountain (almost)
Your photos make me jealous you must have a good camera.
I also like your reports you go with family quite a bit I just think that is really a nice thing to do.
Happy Holidays to your family - Roy..
I also like your reports you go with family quite a bit I just think that is really a nice thing to do.
Happy Holidays to your family - Roy..
The downhill of the mind is harder than the uphill of the body. - Yuichiro Miura
Re: Saddle Mountain (almost)
Thanks everybody for nice comments. Have great holidays!
Roy, this is pretty modest Nikon D40 camera (one of the smallest and lightest DSLR's), color setting set to vivid. Unfortunately, Nikon discontinued D40 in favor of higher-megapixel models as heavy as a brick (for example, D700) but some stores probably still have it. I like this camera and will never trade for anything but Leica M9 when I can afford it
Roy, this is pretty modest Nikon D40 camera (one of the smallest and lightest DSLR's), color setting set to vivid. Unfortunately, Nikon discontinued D40 in favor of higher-megapixel models as heavy as a brick (for example, D700) but some stores probably still have it. I like this camera and will never trade for anything but Leica M9 when I can afford it
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- Posts: 5
- Joined: December 4th, 2010, 12:43 am
Re: Saddle Mountain (almost)
Agree about the nice pictures but more importantly the artistic eye that first saw the opportunity of a nice picture.
From my experience - working in the color and print world for over 25 years - when buying a camera the biggest consideration is the end use of the image (web, print, billboard, etc). The camera companies have sold us into thinking bigger better which actually is not the case. Match the camera with the usage. Just my opinion.
Again - beautiful pics.
From my experience - working in the color and print world for over 25 years - when buying a camera the biggest consideration is the end use of the image (web, print, billboard, etc). The camera companies have sold us into thinking bigger better which actually is not the case. Match the camera with the usage. Just my opinion.
Again - beautiful pics.
Re: Saddle Mountain (almost)
If you get time go through his trip reports this guy knows how to take photos. I have been to many of the places he goes to and you are defiantly right about his artistic eye.chloethelab wrote:Agree about the nice pictures but more importantly the artistic eye that first saw the opportunity of a nice picture.
From my experience - working in the color and print world for over 25 years - when buying a camera the biggest consideration is the end use of the image (web, print, billboard, etc). The camera companies have sold us into thinking bigger better which actually is not the case. Match the camera with the usage. Just my opinion.
Again - beautiful pics.
__ Tom
The downhill of the mind is harder than the uphill of the body. - Yuichiro Miura