Blue Mountains: September 4th-10th

After my roadtrip through Nevada and Southern Oregon, I landed upon the Blue Mountains, which although they had several wildfires going on, still had a lot of P2ks to climb! I was able to start with Big Lookout after needing to go all the way to Ontario to get an air filter, and after crashing in Baker City, I knocked out Peak 7592 and Strawberry. I was going to immediately follow with Vinegar Hill, but a short circuit in my van from my dc-dc charging cables temporarily killed the engine, and I had to sit out hiking for two days to get a guy to look at it and let me know if it was still good to drive (it was). After this, I was able to do Vinegar Hill, and after meeting with a friend, I was going to do Ironside on my way out to Idaho, but it was rainy that day and I didn't wanna risk sliding into a ditch on muddy roads. So I'll have to come back for that one, along with the harder ones (Rock Creek, Lookout), as well as the fired-out ones (Fields, Snow, Pedro), so I'll see if I can squeeze those in at the start of next year!!!

Big Lookout, September 4th

For Big Lookout, follow the signs from the interstate and don't get off at the exit for Weatherby - those are private roads not always accessible. Anyhow, the approach was very long and washboarded, but doable in a sedan all the way up to the last mile or so of the spur up to the summit, which requires imo either a light, 4wd vehicle, or just an ATV at that point. Anyhow, I biked up that section and got my photos just off the summit due to the summit being swamped with hunters

Peak 7592, September 6th

The official name for this peak is "Dixie Butte", but much like with the "Mount Israel" in NH, I refuse to recognize the name of this mountain given that it is named after an enslaving genocidal state, although at least this one is in the dustbin of history - may the Zionist state soon follow it! I'm gonna use Alaska conventions and call the mountain "Peak 7592". The approach road starts out good but narrows and gets much rockier past 5600ft, so if you don't have a high clearance vehicle, I'd recommend doing what I did and parking it there and biking up. After 6900ft, the road becomes 4wd. The road is beautiful even though it was ensconced in wildfire smoke that day - a surgical mask worked really well though!

Strawberry Mountain, September 7th

Strawberry was the first full hike I'd done since Delano, and it turned out really well! The road to the trailhead is easily doable in a sedan, and the trail itself is quite nice if dusty in places. Near the summit, I saw the highest concentration of butterflies in my life. I'm not exaggerating when I say there were several hundred, maybe even a few thousand butterflies in the small alpine zone near the summit. It was beautiful, and it attracted a few dozen crows which made the whole thing even cooler. Anyhow, the summit is a doubletop and I couldn't figure out which one was taller, so I tagged both and got my photos on the southern peak. Fantastic hike

Vinegar Hill, September 10th

Vinegar Hill I approached from the south and got to about 6100ft before I saw a "road narrows" sign and figured it would deteriorate, so I biked the rest of the way. I could have gone another few hundred feet, but my the time the road starts to switchback, I would strongly advise 4wd due to the steepness of some of the turns. Anyhow, the bike was delightful, and I got some wonderful views of the area through the smoke. Afterward, I got to shower and meet up with an old friend, which was even more delightful!