Pueblo Mountains and Beatys Butte

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.

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.

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 to find an alcove with a short class 3 route leading to the summit ridge and an easy scramble to the summit. On my return I descended further west to avoid the exposed class 3 pitch.

The second day I left my camp and hiked directly up the slope above to reach a ridge line, then traversed up mostly open country to the North (false) Summit. I walked the summit ridge to reach the South Summit. I lingered on the summit, enjoying the sunny and warm morning, taking photos, and reading the summit registry and recognizing many names from SummitPost trip reports.

I descended the same route back to my camp, carefully drove down the Arizona Creek Road and restocked supplies at Denio Junction, Nevada. Since my vehicle had done so well getting in and out of the Pueblos I decided to drive in to Beatys Butte on the way home. The route in on Beatys Butte Road is much longer than what I had traveled into the Pueblos, but the road is in much better condition. After about 21 miles I stopped to photograph Beatys Butte and consider where I might set up my camp before hiking the Butte the next day.

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 to swapping the rock-damaged tire for my spare and 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, so I did not want another flat on the way out. I successfully nursed the car back to the highway and on to Lakeview and had the tire replaced the next day.