Sunday, July 9, 2023
This morning I got up bright and early to do the Cone Peak – Iron Mountain loop.
I noticed a new trail segment that has been built at the parking lot. When hiking counter-clockwise this is where you end your hike:
I set off down the trail, soon passing the junction for the nature trail, where the sign was down:
This informational sign was also down:
I crossed the highway:
The trail climbed up through the forest, passing a variety of wildflowers:
Then the trail emerged from the trees into an open area on the slopes of Cone Peak. This is where the real wildflower show begins:
Unfortunately I have very little documentation from here on out. I dumped my Nikon’s memory card as well as my iPhone photos and then got so busy I didn’t have a chance to take a look at any of the photos for weeks. It was at that point I realized most of the photos from my Nikon didn’t transfer to my hard drive. I used various file recovery programs to see if I could get them from the memory card, but I had already been on several more trips and reformatted the card several times. I had not taken a bunch of photos on my iPhone, but I did take some.
Flowers on the slopes of Cone Peak:
View of Iron Mountain:
The trail heads west through the forest:
I reached the junction with the spur trail up to Iron Mountain and began heading up. A heavy layer of smog was settled in the Willamette Valley to the west. Yuck:
I had the viewing platform all to myself for a little while:
It’s disheartening how much this thing has been vandalized:
View of Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters:
The Three Sisters:
Carpenter Mountain (and Diamond Peak) which I had visited the day before:
Sand Mountain, which I had visited the day before:
After hanging out on the summit for awhile I headed back down to complete the loop back to the car. I encountered many people hiking up on the way. No more photos except this one showing the redone segment of trail on the final approach to the trailhead:
Great hike and I’m glad I was able to get an early start. Super bummed about the missing photos, though, since it was a gorgeous day with gorgeous wildflowers.
Gaia stats: 6.6 miles, 1,700′ elevation gain
