Barlow Butte

Sunday, October 3, 2021

My foot was hurting after yesterday’s hike but it was too beautiful of a day to not go for a hike. So I chose something short and not far from home and settled on Barlow Butte.

I parked at Barlow Pass and headed downhill on Road 3530, which follows the route of the old Barlow Road:

Barlow Butte Hike

Barlow Butte Hike

I left the road and started down the Barlow Butte Trail, immediately hitting a stretch of many downed trees:

Barlow Butte Hike

Weirdly it looked like the Forest Service had been through and cut the logs, but they had not removed the cut segments off of the trail:

Barlow Butte Hike

Once I got through that obstacle course I continued on, soon reaching the Mt. Hood Wilderness boundary:

Barlow Butte Hike

It’s a steep climb up through the trees, and there were more downed trees to deal with. Finally the trail broke out of the trees as it approached the summit:

Barlow Butte Hike

Looking southeast from here:

Barlow Butte Hike

The summit is a pleasant spot, but has no views, which I knew from a past visit:

Barlow Butte Hike

Barlow Butte Hike

Nearby is the old fire lookout site:

Barlow Butte Hike

Last time I was up here I couldn’t find any evidence of the lookout. This time I found one of the tie-down points in the brush:

Barlow Butte Hike

Just a little ways past that spot you can see Mt. Hood in-between tree branches:

Barlow Butte Hike

I headed down from the summit then turned and followed the trail along Barlow Ridge. I got a view of Mt. Jefferson:

Barlow Butte Hike

Barlow Butte Hike

I had a view of the bald spot of Palmateer Point, where Greg and I hiked a few weeks ago:

Barlow Butte Hike

Barlow Butte Hike

When the trail is in the trees it’s pretty faint. I don’t think it gets much use:

Barlow Butte Hike

I reached a large rock outcropping that was my turnaround point. There’s a view of Mt. Hood here, although it’s quickly becoming covered by trees:

Barlow Butte Hike

Barlow Butte Hike

Barlow Butte Hike

I retraced my steps back along the ridge to an open rocky area where I could sit and soak up the sun. No Mt. Hood view here, but this was the view looking east:

Barlow Butte Hike

I saw no one else on the trail all day!

Gaia stats: 4.2 miles, 1,380′ elevation gain