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Stacker Butte - 3-12-2020

Posted: March 14th, 2020, 5:54 am
by dmthomas49
It was a bluebird day with sunny skies and cool temperatures as we headed up the road from the trailhead.
Mount Hood was already in full glory as we made our way up. Jefferson was also visible to the side.
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Early Grass Widows and what I think is a Yellow Bell were in great abundance. Also saw some very early signs of balsamroot.
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We encountered several deer interested in our progress as we seemed to herd them up the hill.
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We also saw a flock of about 13 turkeys feeding along the hill. They wanted to stay as far from us as possible, so I needed some zoom power to capture them.
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At the top the mountain were easily visible:
Mt Adams
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Mt St Helens
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Mt Rainier
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Silver Star?
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This being my first time on Stacker Butte, I did not realize how many communication towers there were.
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On the way down from the top, we heard what sounded like young coyotes howling. As we moved further down, we saw was looked like a den dug into the side of the hill. We had no obvious sighting, but this could have been their location.
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There were meadowlarks singing their song on posts near the bottom. What a pleasant song they have.
When driving out down the road a coyote ran across the road in front of us and dashed up into the rocks. Not enough time for a photo.
We saw no one else on the hike, so it was great "social distancing". :)
Being my first time at Stacker Butte, I was pleasantly surprised at the fantastic views!

Re: Stacker Butte - 3-12-2020

Posted: March 14th, 2020, 5:57 am
by dmthomas49
The hills are still somewhat green.
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Close up of Adams.
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Klickitat Basin
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Re: Stacker Butte - 3-12-2020

Posted: March 14th, 2020, 8:07 am
by drm
I was down below on Crawford Oaks that afternoon. Not any of the wildlife but probably a tad greener. I saw nobody else either. If my work shuts down (I work at home but my clients have offices in large west coast cities), I hope the weather cooperates!

Re: Stacker Butte - 3-12-2020

Posted: March 14th, 2020, 10:06 am
by adamschneider
dmthomas49 wrote:
March 14th, 2020, 5:54 am
Silver Star?
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That's East Crater, in Indian Heaven. To the right of Mt. St. Helens is Lemei Rock.

Silver Star would be WAY to the left of MSH — almost due west of Stacker Butte.

Re: Stacker Butte - 3-12-2020

Posted: March 14th, 2020, 1:02 pm
by dmthomas49
Thanks for help with location info.

Re: Stacker Butte - 3-12-2020

Posted: March 14th, 2020, 5:52 pm
by anne37
Fun hike, was out there a couple weeks ago. That whole area is wild. Looking forward to the wildflowers. Thanks for posting!