In early July I visited the Pueblo Mountains and to Beatys Butte in Southeast Oregon for the first time. I hoped to climb three peaks during the visit.

Pueblo Mountains

On Saturday, June 30, I drove from Denio Junction, Nevada, north, then up the narrow and rocky “Arizona Creek Road”. After 4.6 miles I found a campsite just north of Stergen Meadows near the head of Arizona Creek. My campsite lay below the north ridge of Pueblo Mountain. I enjoyed the views north towards Steens Mountain as the shadows gradually lengthened during the late afternoon and evening.

Sunday morning I walked the road up through Stergen Meadows to Ten Cent Meadow. On the way in I tried a shortcut to avoid some unnecessary elevation gain and loss. But I decided it would be easier on the return to stay on the road to avoid minor gullies and brush. At Ten Cent Meadow I left the road and climbed open slopes up to and through a notch. This led to the ridge just left of the yellow-banded cliffs in the photo above. Cumulus clouds were building and threatening showers, but not yet suggesting the thunderstorms that were forecast.

From the ridge line I walked north towards the summit rock. From the south the summit appears surrounded by basalt cliffs. I followed the grassy ramp just left of center in the photo above. This led to an alcove with a short class 3 route leading to the summit ridge. From there is was an easy scramble to the summit.

I had a nice view of Pueblo Mountain from the summit. Cloud shadows passed over the mountain. On my return I descended cliffs further west to avoid the exposed class 3 pitch.

Monday morning I hiked directly up the slope above my camp to reach a ridge line. From there I traversed up mostly open country to the North (false) Summit of Pueblo Mountain. From the north summit I walked the summit ridge to reach the South (true) Summit. I lingered on the summit, enjoying the sunny and warm morning, taking photos, and reading the summit registry. I recognized many names from SummitPost trip reports.

Beatys Butte

I descended the same route back to my camp. From there I carefully drove down the Arizona Creek Road and restocked supplies at Denio Junction.

My Ford Explorer had done quite well getting in and out of the Pueblo Mountains. So I decided to drive in to Beatys Butte on the way home.

The drive in on Beatys Butte Road was much longer than my drive into the Pueblo Mountains. But the road seemed in much better condition. After about 21 miles I stopped to photograph Beatys Butte and consider where I might set up my camp.

After taking my photo, I heard the disturbing sound of escaping air and discovered my front right tire was deflating. My goal for the rest of the day quickly changed from camping to swapping the rock-damaged tire for my spare, then returning to Lakeview for repair or replacement of the tire.

I said “Goodbye” to Beatys Butte and vowed to return another time. There was no cell phone coverage and I had seen no other traffic on the road; I did not want another flat on the way out. I successfully nursed the car back to the highway then on to Lakeview. I had the tire replaced the next day.