Stacker Butte - 3-12-2020
Posted: March 14th, 2020, 5:54 am
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. Early Grass Widows and what I think is a Yellow Bell were in great abundance. Also saw some very early signs of balsamroot. We encountered several deer interested in our progress as we seemed to herd them up the hill. 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. At the top the mountain were easily visible:
Mt Adams Mt St Helens Mt Rainier Silver Star? This being my first time on Stacker Butte, I did not realize how many communication towers there were. 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. 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!
Mount Hood was already in full glory as we made our way up. Jefferson was also visible to the side. Early Grass Widows and what I think is a Yellow Bell were in great abundance. Also saw some very early signs of balsamroot. We encountered several deer interested in our progress as we seemed to herd them up the hill. 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. At the top the mountain were easily visible:
Mt Adams Mt St Helens Mt Rainier Silver Star? This being my first time on Stacker Butte, I did not realize how many communication towers there were. 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. 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!