Short and sweet hike to Oregon Butte

[Ian]

The weather in eastern Washington was a bit of a cluster this weekend. Our original plan was to hike the Panjab Trail (Umatilla National Forrest) six miles to the Indian Corral for an overnighter. Temperature forecast was 95* which concerned me since I would be hiking with my 9 y/o son. A severe electrical storm blew through town Saturday morning and was headed for the Blue Mountains which put our trip into a holding pattern.

By mid afternoon the weather had cleared and we were ready to go. With the limited time remaining, we scratched our original plan and decided to car camp Saturday night and hike up to Oregon Butte early the following morning. This trip would only be six miles round trip which would allow for us to hike it before lunch and hopefully be done before the temperatures started to rise.

We found a nice campsite off of Skyline drive and pitched my fairly new Hexamid Twin tarp for the night. I had recently purchased the S2S Nano Mosquito Net and was interested to see how it would work under this tarp. It was a mess! The net is designed to be hung much higher and I was swimming in it. I have a few plans to tighten it up for future use but since we had no problems with mosquitos I ditched it for the night.

My son woke me up around 10pm, "Dad, I think I hear something!" As I sat there, I could hear the beat of drums along with some tribal chanting and singing. As it turned out, one of the Umatilla Confederated Tribes was having their pow wow in the National Forest that weekend. If this wasn't enough, the moon did not rise until 11pm or so and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The Milky Way was showing off for us and we had the perfect soundtrack for it!

We woke early the next morning so we could knock out this hike before the temperatures would start to rise. One of the resident Elk Herds greeted us on our way to the trailhead. We stepped off at 7am with a gentle 900' climb up the Mt. Misery Trail. As we walked, I smiled listening to my son talk about everything and anything. We maintained a leisurely pace and I forced a couple breaks to make sure he was drinking enough water.

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We arrived at the Oregon Butte by mid morning without seeing another soul on the trail. The watchtower was still empty and we found a note in the trail registor indicating that the USFS did not plan to staff it until July. A few pictures and snacks and we were headed home.

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Besides the heat and electrical storm, there were countless opportunities to wave this trip off. As it turned out, what this trip lacked in distance was more than compensated by the experience in its totality. The scenery was outstanding. Spending time one on one with my son is always a delight. The opportunity to listen to the tribal music play off of the Blue Mountains is something I'll never forget. This trip was yet another reminder that the trail is full of surprises and you never know what is out there waiting for you.

Attached below is a link for a YouTube video I made for this trip. This is my second attempt at making a video and there has been a small learning curve. While some of my video footage did not make the cut, I learned quite a bit from this experience and I'm making plans to improve my equipment and technique for future projects.

Happy trails

[Steven Paris]

Really nice little trip, Ian. Those drums seem like something a kid will remember for a long time!

[Matthew Perry]

Awesome! I grew up backpacking that area with the Boy Scouts and have very fond memories. Looks like your son had a wonderful time and made memories that he will remember forever, as well. Reminds me of backpacking with my son when he was little. Good times. Enjoy them while they are at that age, it doesn't last long.

M

[Ian]

The Blue Mountains are the forgotten mountain range of Oregon and Washington but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I feel very fortunate to have both the Cascades and the Blue Mountains less than 2hrs away from my house. This compensates for the lack of quality trails in my town imo. Each mountain range has its own personality and I can't say that one is necessarily better than the other. The Blues tend to be hotter and drier. On the upside, it's pretty far away from the 206ers and receives less traffic (easy west siders, no offense intended). While I see quite a bit of wildlife in the Cascades, I always see more in the Blues.

My son has already put me on notice that he wants to go Delta Force so I see the similarity between our boys and their trajectory.

[Edward Z]

Thank you for sharing that! Lucky young man!

[Richard May]

That's a great story you guys have to tell.

[Rodney]

Ian,

Thanks for the report. I too love the Blues especially the Wenehah-Tucannon Wilderness where you were. From Oregon Butte you can see forever. From you photos it looks like all the snow is gone.

Thanks again,
Rodney

PS – You did a nice job with the video. When you are my age (59) and your son has a family of his own, you will watch this video having great memories.

[Ian]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate the kind words.

My kids are still fairly young but I'm amazed at how fast time flies with them. I definitely try to make the most of my precious time with them.

Happy trails all.

[Link .]

Great trip report Ian,your son is very lucky ! I really enjoyed your video too :)

[Author]

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