Gabbert Butte is what I used to call Hill 1000 (for the 1,000 foot hill across the saddle from Walters Hill, also called Gresham Butte) because I didn't know the name of it. Now they have trail signs all over the place about it. This hike was an experiment, to see how I would do carrying my tripod and a single trekking pole (soon to be replaced with a 74mm ice axe). I did just fine. I also used my new pack with the padded waist belt and it worked great! No more fatigued shoulders! I can also grab my water bottles without taking the pack off, a real plus!

Took (only) 42 photos of which 26 made the cut. I've photographed most of this route ad nauseam and didn't duplicate anything, so not many photos taken. But a little ways up the trailhead I've always noticed a trail off to the right and never knew where it went. Now it is prominently advertised with standard Oregon trail signs: the mystery trail is the "Gabbert Butte Loop Trail" so I took it and it is much more scenic than the old straight trail I had been taking. The portion of the loop trail that was new to me goes in and out of several little canyons and ends up at a closed off gravel road that goes to the summit of Gabbert Butte (my old "Hill 1000"). Took my old route back.

The temperature started at 75° and when I got back to the car after the hike my digital thermometer read 86.1°, and I lived to tell about it. Did not get fatigued. Hiking time: 188 minutes 48.64 seconds, or 3 hours and 9 minutes. But on the summit of Walters Hill had about a half hour conversation with the owner of most of the settled butte summits around here (including Walters Hill), a 78 year old who has his own business and still works. He's the one who owns and lives in the big beautiful house on the highest spot on Scott Mt. that has all the antennas in his backyard that I used to make fun of for buying a house that would "later" host all those antennas. However, it turns out the antennas were there long before he bought the original house, which was kind of run down and he kept improving it until he eventually trashed it and put up his current magnificent four story abode. He gave me his card and invited me over to photograph the inside and outside of his house.