Over the Labor Day Weekend last September I climbed five of the Oregon 100 Highest Peaks located in the Strawberry Wilderness. These were Graham Mountain, [Riner Basin-Slide], Indian Creek Butte, Pine Creek Mountain (East Peak), and [Berry-Norton]. My routes were over trails much less frequently used than the Strawberry Basin Trail, the most popular hiking route up Strawberry Mountain. The trails I used were at times rocky and some joining trails had been obscured by recent wildfires and subsequent brush regrowth.
In addition to it being the Labor Day Weekend, there was a muzzleloader hunt in progress in the area. I expected to see several hikers or hunters on or near the trails. However, although I saw two other vehicles parked at the Meadow Fork Trailhead on Saturday I only saw one man and his two sons on the trail that day. On Sunday I saw two or three other vehicles parked at the Roads End Trailhead but saw no one on the Indian Creek Access, Pine Creek, or Canyon Mountain Trails that day. On Monday I saw no other vehicles parked at the Joaquin Miller Trailhead, but did hear one person just off the Joaquin Miller Trail apparently prospecting along a cliff.
Of course, hunters may have observed me, but I felt a significant sense of solitude those three days. I am sure my solitude would have been magnified even more had I camped overnight along any of those trails. Although one can see evidence of development in the valleys outside the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, the Strawberry Range appears to offer a genuine wilderness experience for those avoiding the heavily used Strawberry Basin trails.
