Paradise Park is on the southwest side of Mt. Hood. It is one of the most famous spots on Mt. Hood, renowned for its August wildflower display. Personally I like the wildflower displays on the west to north sides of Mt. Hood better. Over the years I've found the wildflower display at Paradise Park to be short-lived. However, on this hike, there was a good display, but not as much variety compared to the west to north side.

The weather was the worst I've seen up there in August, ever. Monsoon rains came up from Arizona, a complete surprise. Usually when it rains it is cool in Portland and cold on Mt. Hood. But with the unexpected monsoon rains, it was warm and sultry at 6,000 feet! Several times I thought, "I came up here to take pictures. This is a waste," and I was tempted to just turn around. But I plugged on, eventually almost getting to my planned destination, which was the top of what is called Mississippi Head, at 7,000 feet.

To my immense satisfaction, the rains stopped when I got to 6,400 feet but was replaced by ferocious winds, 50 to 60 miles an hour, and the humidity disappeared and it got cool! I was dry as a bone in minutes after being soaked by rain and humidity, but it was extremely difficult taking pictures, and almost impossible to move forward. So I had to be satisfied with the view at 6,400 feet.

The wind was so powerful and relentless that I had to hang onto my tripod to keep it from being blown away, camera and all! Also, it remained overcast the whole time and I couldn't get any good telephoto shots of the summit area, which in brilliant sunlight is extremely colorful and spectacular. You would not even want the colors to be ruined by the red light of sunset, as all the colors would actually be hidden, as they are also hidden by an overcast sky such as I had this day. Nevertheless, as this gallery shows, I did manage to get a few keepers. To see the colors in the rocks, you have to be quite close to them. I did get close enough to Mississippi Head to record its dazzling colors, as well as the extremely colorful boulders strewn all over the hills above Paradise Park.