Hamilton Mountain and Beacon Rock 3-05-2022

[Holly and Bryan]

We hiked Hamilton Mountain and Beacon Rock for the first time a couple weeks ago, and were once again blown away by how beautiful the gorge is. We were lucky to catch them on a sunny day. I felt like singing, "The hills are alive!" from the viewpoints along the Hamilton Mountain trail, but contained myself because there were a lot of other hikers on the trail. Wildflowers were just beginning to come out, but it's early for the full show.

We arrived mid-morning on a sunny Saturday, so both trails were pretty crowded. The Hamilton Mountain lot was totally full, which is why we ended up checking out Beacon Rock first (which ended up being awesome as well). Next time I will go earlier in the day!

The waterfalls along the Hamilton Mountain trail were stunning, particularly the Pool of the Winds. You can really feel the blast of wind and mist shooting out of the opening in the rocks.

We made a video of both hikes .

[bobcat]

Nice videos and commentary! Enjoyed your first post and welcome!

[retired jerry]

nice video, thanks

yeah, Beacon Rock is pretty amazing. Eruption only 57,000 years ago? I'm surprised it's that recent. And the exterior got washed away by Missoula floods? It would be pretty cool to see that.

[Chip Down]

Nice videos and commentary! Enjoyed your first post and welcome!

I sometimes notice and recognize debut posts, but missed this one [didn't notice OP's post count].
Thanks bobcat, and welcome to Holly and Bryan.
Hamilton is a treasure, one of those weird mountains where the hike is cool, but the summit is disappointing.
I didn't know BR is a volcanic plug. I love it more than ever now!

[ChrisA]

"The hills are alive!"
Love it, my wife is always singing on the trail!

[Holly and Bryan]

Thanks so much for the warm welcome, all! I'm excited to join the community and keep exploring. There's so much beautiful nature in the PNW .

[wildcat]

Hamilton is a treasure, one of those weird mountains where the hike is cool, but the summit is disappointing.

At least the summit is a convenient and mostly flat spot to stop for mid-loop lunch/afternoon tea/change-from-boots-to-sandals, though the view isn't anything spectacular (it's way better from the saddle area, but the ground is a lot rockier and less comfortable to sit on).