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.
Peak 8525 (Elkhorns) aka “Cunningham-Dutch Flat Peak”
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.
