Northern Elkhorn Peaks

The Anthony Lakes Area west of North Powder, Oregon, provides convenient access to several peaks along or near the northern section of the Elkhorn Range of Oregon. I visited this area on two trips this past July, using the Anthony Lake Campground as my base camp for hiking and climbing seven peaks, six peaks via the Elkhorn Crest Trail, a short walking distance from the CG, and the seventh peak via the Van Patten Lake Trail about two miles from the CG.For my first trip I planned to include hikes on the Steens Mountain and in the Elkhorns and the Wallowas. However at that time a large wildfire was burning near Frenchglen, below Steens Mountain, and the thick smoke I observed and reports of fire-caused traffic and camping restrictions near Frenchglen led me to decide to postpone hiking on the Steens and continue on to the Elkhorn Range.

I arrived at the Anthony Lake CG on a Thursday afternoon, and found a good campsite near a trail leading a short distance to the Elkhorn Crest Trailhead. My plan was to hike five nearby peaks over the next two days, then move on to the Northern Wallowas.

The next day I hiked south on the Elkhorn Crest Trail (ECT) towards Angell Pass and nearly walked into a sleek, white mountain goat who was descending the trail. He quickly turned and went out of view as I retrieved my camera. I continued over Angell Pass below the west face of Angel Peak and on to Dutch Flat Saddle. Here I left the trail and climbed the north ridge of Peak 8525 to its rocky summit.

My original idea was to descend the SE ridge line of Peak 8525 to reach the west ridge of my second objective, Peak 8428, but the planned ridge descent appeared to be steep rock blocks and cliffs. Instead, I traversed down open slopes south towards the ECT and eventually met it 0.4 mile north of Nip and Tuck Pass.

Rather than continuing to Nip and Tuck Pass to turn the ridge to my east, I left the trail after only 0.1 mile and climbed over the ridge north of Point 8024 and descended the east side, then traversed below cliffs to reach the west ridge of Peak 8428. After several attempts to follow the ridge line I decided it was easier to traverse upwards in the more open country to the south of the ridge line until just before reaching the summit. It was becoming a sunny, hot, and humid day and the views were hazy, but I enjoyed viewing and identifying the surrounding peaks, many of which I hoped to someday climb.

I returned to the ECT traversing through the more open country below the west ridge and climbed over the ridge as before to avoid the talus slopes near Nip and Tuck Pass.

I returned to my camp and discovered the campground was full of weekend campers and families. That afternoon the weather changed to thunderstorms which resumed the next morning.

The Wallowas in the distance appeared free of storms, so rather than linger in camp I left and explored some east-side Elkhorn access points before driving to the north side of the Wallowas for more trailhead exploration and possible campsite for the evening. However, a very impressive thunderstorm arrived over Wallowa Lake and the north side of the Wallowas and I decided to return to La Grande for the evening. The next morning the weather appeared to promise more storms, so I cut the trip short and returned home with plans for returning soon to NE Oregon.