We hiked to the saddle on the north side of Hamilton Mountain by the "back door."
We started at the Beacon Rock State Park Equestrian Trailhead and followed the main fire road to the saddle. The hike was 7 miles round trip with about 1,500 feet elevation gain.
We encountered only a couple of other hikers until we reached Hardy Creek, where our route overlapped with the Hamilton Mountain Trail-Hardy Creek Trail loop. We encountered about a half dozen other hiking groups as we continued up to the saddle.
We found a sunny spot with views for our lunch break. We watched as the clouds cleared around Mount Hood. Through binoculars we could see seals catching salmon in the river just below the Bonneville Dam Second Powerhouse and we watched bald eagles and turkey vultures cruise by on the updrafts.
We birded along the way as we hiked. Many warbler species were singing in the trees. We also saw woodpeckers and heard a northern pygmy-owl. We identified 40 species of birds.
Wildflowers were blooming along the trail, predominantly stream violets. Much of the road was lined with salmonberry, but only a few plants were blooming yet. We encountered one blooming red-flowering currant being guarded by a rufous hummingbird.
We returned the way we came.
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