Climbing Reports

Travel using both feet and hands, whether scrambling unroped or technical climbing using rope and anchors.

Pusch Peak, Arizona, November 2024

December 5, 2024 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday, November 30, I climbed Pusch Peak on the western edge of the Santa Catalina Mountains of Southern Arizona. This peak is closed for bighorn sheep lambing season from January 1 through April 30. I needed to visit it soon if at all this winter season.

Morning view of Pusch Peak from the Linda Vista Trail

That morning I drove to the Linda Vista Trailhead. I was fortunate to find a parking spot. From the trailhead I followed the Linda Vista Trail east, then turned to follow the unmaintained Pusch Peak Trail higher towards the peak’s summit.

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Chloride Ridge West Peak, Oregon, October 2024

October 19, 2024 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday, October 5, I left our home in the Baker Valley to attempt the West Peak of Chloride Ridge. The previous month I had climbed Chloride Ridge East Peak, and I decided then that my best chance to reach the West Peak of Chloride Ridge was from Western Union Basin and Mayflower Meadow, above the North Fork of Rock Creek.

Chloride Ridge West Peak in the center of this view from Chloride Ridge East Peak.

I followed Forest Road 5520 as it climbed beside the North Fork of Rock Creek. It was at times eroded and often steep, requiring high clearance and 4WD Low from my Jeep. The road forked, climbed more steeply, and became rockier. But I was delighted to find it was quite passable high into the basin.

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Chloride Ridge East Peak, Oregon, September 2024

September 30, 2024 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Friday, September 13, I left our home in the Baker Valley and drove into the Elkhorn Mountains along Rock Creek. I parked at the Killamacue Trailhead, and began my attempt to climb the East Peak of Chloride Ridge. From the east, Chloride Ridge leads south, then turns west above the North Fork of Rock Creek. Chloride Ridge has several little summits. Two of them have at least 300 feet of prominence, qualifying them as peaks in their own right according to those who keep track of such things.

An afternoon view of Chloride Ridge East Peak from Killamacue Lake.

The eastern-most summit of Chloride Ridge (Chloride Ridge East Peak) lies above to the southeast of Killamacue Lake, a reservoir used to provide irrigation water to the Baker Valley. The Killamacue Lake Trail provides access to the lake, and I hoped it would get me close enough to the East Peak for a feasible ascent.

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Hunt Mountain, Oregon, June 2024

July 4, 2024 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Monday, June 24, I climbed Hunt Mountain in the Elkhorn Mountains northwest of Baker City, Oregon. Hunt Mountain has only 425 feet of topographic prominence, but it has 8225 feet of elevation and appears quite prominent from the Baker Valley. Hunt Mountain has called for me to visit every time I have looked up at it from the valley. It has been the most insistent of several peaks I hoped to visit soon in the Elkhorn Mountains.

Maxwell Mountain (left of center) and Hunt Mountain (right of center) from the Baker Valley.

Hunt mountain is protected from the east by extensive private property without public access. A possible southern approach from Pine Creek requires a long, steep, off-trail climb through forest. My preferred route has been from the north and west, via Rock Creek and the Highland Mine ruins. I turned back on my last attempt of Hunt Mountain two years ago due to the length of this approach. I planned to make a more serious attempt this time.

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