Saddle Mountain Views, Oregon - Tyler Westcott Photography

Saddle Mountain Views, Oregon

After a day of checking out the Oregon Coast, my wife an I had hoped to also get in a good hike. Knowing little about Oregon and planning the trip on little notice, we only really knew of a couple hikes and settled on climbing Saddle Mountain. The weather was warm and skies were very clear so it seemed like a great chance to take in a hike that could offer 360 degree views out to the Pacific and hopefully the four surrounding volcanoes: Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood.

Unfortunately, once we began to climb the haze which was too thin on the ground to notice began to obscure the view, while at the same time creating a nice sense of depth in photographs for the distant peaks. The climb itself is about 1700ft and a bit challenging for someone out of practice, but quite pleasant the whole way up. As we got close to the top of the first peak (being "saddle mountain" you climb one side, drop a bit, and climb up the higher peak from there) my wife was just ahead of me at a bend in the trail where we stopped briefly for a breather and to take in the views. I particularly liked this shot because I thought it nicely capture both my wife on the trail up ahead of me, and that great sense of how high we'd climbed, and how the views had developed since we started at ground level. Off to the left is Humbug Mountain, and the distant peaks are a part of Oswald West State Park, where we'd done some exploring earlier in the day. Beyond that is the Pacific Ocean with the evening fog rolling in.

I love getting out on any chance we can for these day-hikes. My wife was a fan of hiking and the outdoors before me, and as I developed an interest in photography we've found these sorts of day-hikes to be a great way to spend our weekends when we can. There's just so much to be seen and enjoyed.

Nikon D90 | Nikon 18-200VR@29mm | f/6.3 | 1/4000s | ISO800 | Handheld

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