Oregon Hikers

Sunday turned out to be great day for a hike though we had to drive a bit for it.

Stacker Butte is across the Columbia from The Dalles and I'd never hiked it due to how barren and sunburned it looked from afar. However, add a few inches of snow and misty swirling clouds and what might be a boring gravel road hike becomes something else altogether. The clouds parted at about 3,000' and revealed a wonderful blue sky and a four mountain view. Clouds obscured Mt. St. Helens or we would had another to enjoy.



There were deeper drifts in the road cuts and near the communication tower structures but never more than 4 or 5 inches in general. I wore my spikes but didn't need them and Kelly had no problem in only her regular hiking boots.











As we got ready to start back we met mountainkat. Always nice to meet a fellow Portland hiker on the trail. She totally out did us too: She started all the way down on Hwy 14 so must have hiked at least 12 miles RT! Way to go Kathy!!

The map:



5.0 miles, 1200' EG

dn

Great place to find unusual wildflowers in June.

It was very nice to see you again, Don. And nice to meet Kelly, as well. The gps said 14 miles, but I could never outdo you by any measure. I am a fan of your many adventures, especially the ones wandering through the history of Larch Mtn.

I had planned to "sort of" cross country ski up to Stacker Butte, because of the gentle grade. But, when I saw the amount of snow at the TH, I had to leave the skis in the car. I'm still hoping we get some more river level snow this winter.

Brrr. It looks rather wind-swept.

Golden Bear hikes are looking rather cozy by comparison.