Hughes Mountain Natural Area was the next stop on day 3 and another wonderful surprise.  The glade on top was far bigger, and the view was far more expansive than I imagined.  Near the top, you step out of the woods to this view:

The glade keeps going up way past the trees on the horizon here.  Along the way you see numerous examples of columnar jointed rhyolite.

The mountain isn’t that tall but as I sat on top to eat lunch with a 300-degree panorama, I felt like I was on top of the world.  Here’s a view from SW to W…

and S to SW…

It was Mother’s Day so I tried to call my mom from up here but couldn’t get a voice connection.  I (and she) had to settle for a text message relayed through my sister.  Here are  more views of the glade on the way back down:

It’s a heck of a neat place, and it’s less than a mile to the top on the Devil’s Honeycomb Trail so check it out if you’re in the area.