In September I returned to Southeast Oregon to hike several Steens Mountain summits and remote Beatys Butte. In July I had been turned back from Steens Mountain by wildfires, and from Beatys Butte by a flat tire. Since then I had purchased new tires for my car and the wildfires near Frenchglen had died down. I was hopeful my plans would succeed this time.
Steens Mountain Summit
On Sunday, September 16, I drove to Frenchglen, then up 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. Here I studied the summits lying on the ridge between Kiger Gorge below and Mann Lake to the east.
[Read more…] about Steens Mountain and Beatys Butte, Oregon, September 2012