Spring Wildflower Explosion on Saddle Mountain

Amazing, breathtaking, spectacular, extraordinary, stunning, incredible, off-the-charts.  And I still don't think these superlatives adequately describe this spring's crazy wildflower bloom on Saddle Mountain.

Wild iris

The tallest peak in the Northern Coast Range, Saddle Mountain is known for its rare wildflowers and stunning summit viewpoint.  The mountain is named for it's double-peaked summit, which forms a "saddle" between the two high points.  Maintained by the Oregon State Parks system, a steep 2.5-mile trail takes hikers to the very top.  On a clear day one can see the distant Pacific Ocean and several Cascade peaks.  In May and June, wildflowers bloom profusely on the mountain's slopes.    

Indian paintbrush!

Saddle Mountain's hiking trail was closed from 2021 until fall of 2023 due to a broken bridge.  With the repairs finally completed, the trail was again open to hikers.  So one day in late May I rallied friends Debbie and Barry to go check it out.

Yellow monkeyflowers color the slope

Upon arrival, after some last-minute adjustments and trips to the rebuilt restrooms, my friends and I happily trotted past the trailhead sign.  The first half mile or so wandered through a lovely red alder forest, punctuated with a few massive tree stumps - remnants of huge old-growth conifers that towered here long ago, prior to the forest being logged.

More yellow goodness

From past hikes, I remembered Saddle Mountain's wildflower bloom didn't reach peak until mid to late June.  So I thought we'd be a bit early for wildflowers.  However once the alder forest gave way to open slopes, I realized that I couldn't have been more wrong!

Wow!  I've never seen so much yellow!

Looking ahead to the first large open slope, it seemed to be covered in large patches of yellow.  What was that?  Upon closer inspection, my friends and I realized those yellow patches were entirely made up of wildflowers.

Monkeyflower close-up

It was a monkeyflower super bloom.  Before today I'd only seen these thumb-sized, yellow flowers residing in small patches around wet areas, such as adjacent to mountain streams.  But today huge swaths of monkeyflowers covered the hillsides, painting slopes yellow.  I'd never seen such a large concentration of monkeyflowers anywhere.

But wait, there's more!

Wowza!  As you can probably guess, my camera came out of it's bag fast and stayed in my hands for a long while.  I assumed my usual hiking position lagging well behind my friends.  So. Many. Photo. Opportunities...

Sweeping coast range views

I thought maybe the first yellow hill was an anomaly, however climbing higher, I found more and more steep slopes also completely enveloped in monkeyflowers.  It was quite a sight!  To say I was giddy with joy was an understatement.

Huge flower meadow

The trail zig-zagged quite steeply up to the first summit area.  Before we reached the top, my friends and I passed through a huge meadow dotted with wildflowers of all shapes, sizes, and most importantly - colors.

More of the wildflower meadow

There was orange Indian paintbrush, yellow wallflowers, purple iris, pink sea thrift, and a bunch of white flowers I couldn't identify.  Now quite high on Saddle Mountain my friends and I were treated to panoramic views of the adjacent coast range mountains.  Sadly, most of them were marred with checkerboard areas of clear-cuts from logging. 

Can you spot the hikers?

Stretching away from Saddle Mountain's first summit was a promontory.  Many hikers venture out to its very tip, both for views and photo ops.  Hiking towards this yellow-spotted viewpoint, I noticed two tiny people standing at the edge.  Can you spot them in the above photo?

Final summit push

My friends and I decided to bypass the promontory viewpoint for the time being.  It was nearing the noon hour, and we all were looking forward to a lunch break on the second summit proper.

It's a steep trail to the summit

From summit No. 1, our trail dived downward into the "saddle" portion of the mountain.  At this low point, we gazed out in each direction, taking in the views and of course more wildflowers.  Then my friends and I geared up for the extremely steep push to the true summit.

Lots of lovely flowers along the way

Because Saddle Mountain is comprised of crumbly basalt rock, erosion is a huge problem.  It's easy to lose one's footing scrambling uphill through its loose, pebble-sized soil.  Trying to curb the trail degradation and give hikers a bit of stability, Oregon State Parks rebuilt many portions of Saddle Mountain's trail using a chicken wire surface.  Although it does provide a small amount of traction I'm not a fan.  If it gets a tiny bit wet, chicken wire is also slippery.  But the final summit segment is almost entirely comprised of this wire mesh.  Up my friends and I trudged, trying not to slip on the soil and the wire.

 

And more flowers!

Not only is this final segment slippery and wiry, it's also super steep.  Slowly my friends and I slogged uphill, stopping frequently to catch our breath.

Orange spots of paintbrush

The good thing about this uber-steep trail section?  The wildflowers lining the way were absolutely out of sight!  Making frequent photo stops (which conveniently morphed into opportunities for a bit of rest) I tried my best to capture all the glory.

The trail squeezes between two boulders

All my photo-lollygagging put me quite a bit behind.  Naturally, my friends reached the summit a full 10 minutes before I did.

Cloudy summit view

Finally on top, I gazed in all directions.  Bright yellow buttercups brightened the summit's perimeter.  Despite a cloudy sky, I enjoyed some nice views of the coast range.  Although this weather hid all the Cascade peaks, I was able to make out the faint blue horizon of the Pacific Ocean.  

Lunch time!

As is often the case, Saddle Mountain's summit was cold and windy.  Debbie, Barry and I added some layers and then sat down on the summit bench for a quick bite.

The trail back down.  Yes, it's that steep!

Due to the wind, my friends and I didn't linger long on the summit.  After a quick lunch break, it was time to head downhill to calmer and warmer weather.

More orange goodness

When terrain is so steep, the downhill trek is sometimes more treacherous than the uphill.  Such was the case descending Saddle Mountain's summit trail.  The steep, crumbly, chicken-wiry path forced us all to proceed with extreme caution.

Another technicolor meadow

Thankfully we all made it down with no mishaps.  And although I'd taken copious photographs on the uphill trip, the wildflowers were so amazing, I couldn't resist capturing a few more images on the descent.

Patch of sea thrift

Back through the flower fields, past the viewpoint, and once again traipsing by the blazing yellow slopes.  Still amazed by the sheer volume of monkeyflowers, I documented this rare superbloom event by capturing a bunch more images.

Flowers everywhere

What a day!  My friends and I were treated to a totally unexpected display of wildflower abundance.  I think we caught the bloom at or near peak.  We all felt lucky to have witnessed such a wonderful display of Nature's beauty.

Heading back downhill

Yes, I know I've saturated this post with a bazillion photos, but it was so amazing and unique I just couldn't help myself!  Hopefully you all enjoyed it too.