Earlier in the week I had planned a hike to the look out tower on top of Sand Mountain. The spur road to the trailhead was closed however so I was forced to rethink my plans. I really wasn't prepared for a longer hike and didn't feel like walking the road to get to the trailhead. Luckily there was plenty more to see as I drove around the forest. 😀
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Here I am again with my trusty Jeep on the old Santiam Wagon Road. Here is a link to a post from a couple months ago from a trip on another part of the old road. My original destination for the day, Sand Mountain, can be seen in the distance.
The open area on the left with the young trees used to be an airstrip. The old topo map from 1959 I was using had it listed. After some research I wasn't able to find out much about the airstrip or when it had been abandonded.
My last real look at the lookout. At least I was able to use my zoom lens and get a couple decent shots of the tower "up close". 😛
Big Lake
A couple shots of Mt Washington over a small corner of Big Lake.
Some more Big Lake images. The airstrip I talked about earlier is probably only a mile away from the lake and was probably constructed for people to fly in to the area. There are several campgrounds and a youth camp on the opposite side of the lake.
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Hoodoo Ski Resort
The mountain in the distance is the Hoodoo Ski Resort at the top of Santiam Pass. As you can see I also found where the state keeps all its gravel for winter time operations. 😀
A look the other way toward Three Fingered Jack.
Scout Lake and Mt Jefferson
Finally on the way home I toured a couple places I hadn't seen yet since I moved here. I wasn't disappointed with the views that is for sure. 😃
Please feel free to make comments or ask me any questions about this post.
Photos taken by me, 
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Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!