Powell Butte

Powell Butte is an extinct volcanic cinder cone here in Portland. Hey, Mom! What’s that mean?

Mom: It’s a Plio-Pleistocene cinder cone of the Boring Lavas. Like one of your favorite out-door dog parks-Mount Tabor. There’s 4 of these cinder cones in Portland. 

Me: What’s Plio-Pleistocene? (That’s one of those big words I don’t understand.)

Mom: That means it was blowing up 5 million years ago. 

Me: Oh. I guess we aren’t going to be blown to cinders?

Mom: Right–we are just going to take a hike up it. It’s not very far.

When we got to the top of this little hill, we found a walnut orchard. Those were some pretty old trees–planted in the late 1800’s. They haven’t started leafing out yet–I wonder if there are squirrels that live there? They sure like walnuts!Wow! When we were up on the top, you can see all these big mountains! This is Mount Hood to the east. Isn’t it pretty? All that snow! Did you know you can ski up there in the summer sometimes? And to the northwest, we could see Mount St. Helen’s! It blew up in 1980, but it didn’t blow its top like some volcanoes you see on teevee. It blew sideways–and killed a bunch of people. Someday we’ll go there and I can tell you more about it! Mom says it’s really amazing. I think it might be scary, but she said it’s gone to sleep.

There is this place on the top of our hill where we could see 4 of the big volcanic mountains in the Cascade Range as well as a whole bunch of smaller mountains. We took a little rest here while Mom was taking pictures. There was a woman sitting on a bench and wondered if Toby was part wolf. That’s because his face is white. Mom said he was just old and his muzzle had just turned white–like Mom!

We could just see Mount Jefferson, way to the south, but it was a little hazy and Mom couldn’t take a photo. But we could see just the tippy top of Mount Adams. It’s that white place above the snow-capped range to the right of the tree. Looks like a cloud, doesn’t it? There are clouds up there, but that’s it! Another big one!! But it hasn’t blown up in a long, long time. Over 100,000 years ago. That’s even older than Mom!

That was a pretty nice walk! There were lots of people and little people (I’m not too sure about them) and horses! This is really how far away Mount St. Helen’s and Adams are. Mom said we aren’t going to climb them. Pshew……Pee Ess: Mom said I should tell you about the Kurgo contraption she bought for the car. She moved the zip-line down to the connectors on the shoulder harnesses and it worked pretty good! I couldn’t be a bobble-head dog though……

21 thoughts on “Powell Butte

  1. Vof Sage! Thank you for taking us with you to see that amazing mountain! You took beautiful photos! You and Toby look so wonderful enjoying your sunny walk!
    xxx Nero & Teje

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  2. NIce view and a nice walk! I agree! I wish I could have gone with you. Mama does too, but she says she would have waited at the bottom of the mountain for us. She seems sleepy today. Hmmm. Do you think she’ll take me hiking today?

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  3. Wow Sage that’s a great walk you went on your human is a fantastic photo taker. You look like you had a great time on your walk From Angus and Milo

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  4. Thanks for sharing all the beautiful photos from that fantastic hike, Sage. We see you didn’t find any mud:) Your Mom did a great job with the photos – we felt like we were right there with you.

    Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

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  5. That must have been Saturday..it looked sunny and dry 🙂
    What a lovely view from up there!
    We are wanting to get back up to Mt. St. Helens for a hike too. It’s been a long time….
    We want Saturday’s weather to come back!!

    Wyatt and Stanzie

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  6. Girl Sage,, you sure live in a beautiful part of our country!!!
    We don’t have any mountains around here we just have a lot warmer weather!! Not lots of rain either!!
    xx, Bambi & Fern

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  7. Thanks for introducing me to Powell Butte! I’m definitely going to visit – perhaps tomorrow since I think the weather’s going to hold. Love the photos and Sage and Toby are so cute in that shot of them resting. Has Toby dropped a few pounds or perhaps had a haircut? They both look great!

    -Chandra at Daley’s Dog Years

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    • Toby gets a LOT of exercise since Sage came to live with us, so it may be more muscle tone. His weight has stayed the same for a while. Plus, since he’s been on thyroid meds, he’s feeling a lot better.

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  8. I like your photo of Mt. Hood! Murphy and I live in the foothills of the North Cascades, but we were in Oregon this last week visiting our friend who is a ski patroller at Mt. Hood Meadows. We didn’t get to spend any time in Portland on this trip, but when we do, we like the Lucky Lab Brewery!

    Kira and Murphy

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  9. Miss Sage, that looks like such a fun and luvly hike! I like walnut trees too, we have some in our yard and the skwirls do like them, they eat all the nuts before we can get them! Thanks for sharing your adventures, I like to hear about them!

    Barks and Wiggles,

    Jackie

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  10. Pingback: Sorta Wordless Wednesday: Mt. Shasta « The (mis)Adventures of Sage

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