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.
I described my first trip in an earlier post. I returned two weeks later to the Anthony Lake Campground on a Thursday afternoon under better weather forecasts and found a suitable campsite. My plan was to hike four or five nearby peaks over the next three days.
Mount Ruth from Peak 8528 (Elkhorns)
On my first day of hiking I hiked south on the Elkhorn Crest Trail (ECT) over Angell and Nip and Tuck Passes to about 0.3 mile south of Lost Lake Saddle just west below Point 8255. The morning had started cloudy, but the skies seemed to be gradually clearing as the morning progressed. I climbed open slopes to the Northwest Ridge of Mount Ruth which I followed up over some rocky sections to the summit. The views this day were less hazy than two weeks earlier and I again enjoyed viewing and identifying the surrounding Elkhorn peaks, including Mount Ireland to the south.
