Beatys Butte Archives – GlassMountains Trip Reports

In mid September I returned to Southeast Oregon with the intent to summit Beatys Butte after being turned back by a flat tire in early July and to hike several Steens Mountain summits after being turned back by wildfires in mid July. I had purchased new tires for my car and the wildfires near Frenchglen had died down, so I was hopeful my plans would succeed this time.

I began by driving to Frenchglen, then onto the Steens Mountain Loop Road. The sky was smoky from fires in the Cascades if not from others elsewhere as well. I scouted out Page Springs, Fish Lake, and Jackman Park campgrounds for reference, then drove to the Kiger Gorge Overlook to see the summits lying on the ridge to my right between Kiger Gorge below and Mann Lake to the east. I then drove to the Wildhorse Lake Trailhead and hiked the 1/4 mile on a gated road to the Steens Mountain Summit.

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Early July I traveled to the Pueblo Mountains of Southeast Oregon to visit the area for the first time and hike some peaks. I drove up the narrow and rocky “Arizona Creek Road” for 4.6 miles and car camped just north of Stergen Meadows near the head of Arizona Creek, below the north ridge of Pueblo Mountain. From my camp I enjoyed the views towards Steens Mountain as the shadows gradually lengthened during the late afternoon and evening.

West Pueblo Ridge from North Ridge, Pueblo Mountain

The next day I walked the road up through Stergen Meadows to Ten Cent Meadow. Actually, on the way in I tried a shortcut to avoid some unnecessary elevation gain and loss, but decided it would be easier to stay on the road on the return to avoid minor gullies and brush. I left the road at Ten Cent Meadow and climbed open country up to and through a notch 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.

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Steens Mountain and Beatys Butte

Pueblo Mountains and Beatys Butte