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Each step up the Saddle Mountain two-and-a-half-mile long trail reveals a timeless place born of events that are 16 million years old.
The site dates to a time when a thick layer of Columbia River basalt flowed into the ocean from distant eastern Oregon. Eventually, the ground rose and the mountain was born.
Today, the basalt breaks away in chunks, cracks, crevices and bands that show off eons of geologic time.
The trail opens onto grassy meadows covered in a riot of wildflowers.
Although water is rare, cool springs seep and replenish a surprising number of plants with a distinct sound that also soothes the soul.
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One thing Steelquist cannot hide is the deep pride he has for the Pacific Coast. You can see it and read it and learn more about it in his colorful book: “The Northwest Coastal Explorer;” a natural history guide to the places, plants and animals of the Pacific Coast.
Steelquist said his book was a project that prodded and pulled on him for years. “I was pretty much running up and down this coastline, from California to Vancouver Island for 14 months with cameras just so I could illustrate the ideas that I wrote about. The weather was not always kind to me either. It really forced me to recognize the importance of rain to the coast because that’s what I was able to capture most of the time.”
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“We’re less than 20 miles as the crow flies, and while many of my friends in the valley say, ‘You should see our view of Mt Hood.’ I chuckle because you really should see it from this side too. It really shines from up here.”
Above the nearby small burg of Tygh Valley, an overlook provides a peek to the namesake White River and marks a route that pioneers followed in the great migration across Oregon to reach the Willamette Valley.
There are several lakes and ponds but a short cast away, where boating and fishing can be enjoyed.