Fall Colors on Lookout Mountain

Sunday, October 30, 2021

Greg and I are both nursing some injuries so we weren’t up for a long or hard hike today. We headed to Lookout Mountain in the Badger Creek Wilderness. We stopped at this pull-out on Highway 35 to admire the view:

Mt. Hood in the fall

From the trailhead we set off along the High Prairie Trail:

Lookout Mountain hike

Lookout Mountain hike

Lookout Mountain hike

We got a nice view of Mt. Hood on the way up:

Mt. Hood

Windy viewpoint

Continuing towards the summit:

Lookout Mountain hike

Lookout Mountain hike

It was very windy, so we temporarily skipped summit and continued along the Divide Trail:

Lookout Mountain hike

We took a side trail to a viewpoint and came across two fire rings right next to each other. WHY? Isn’t one enough?

Lookout Mountain hike

From the viewpoint we could see Badger Lake:

Lookout Mountain hike

Clouds blocked our view of Mt. Hood for much of the time we sat here huddled in the cold:

Lookout Mountain hike

But the clouds parted a few times, fortunately:

Lookout Mountain Hike

On the way back we took a faint side trail to check out Senecal Spring, which was frozen:

Lookout Mountain Hike

Before heading back to the car we stopped at the super windy summit of Lookout Mountain where we had a partial view of Mt. Hood:

Lookout Mountain Hike

And views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams:

Lookout Mountain Hike

Lookout Mountain Hike

Mt. Jefferson was visible to the south:

Lookout Mountain Hike

The distant larches looked nice:

Lookout Mountain Hike

Heading down:

Lookout Mountain Hike

The ground was crunchy and icy in spots:

Lookout Mountain Hike

Driving back we stopped briefly on Road 4410 for a parting view of Mt. Hood:

Mt. Hood view

Gaia stats: 4.2 miles, 920′ elevation gain