skyclimb Posted April 9, 2003 Posted April 9, 2003 John Day mountain range, eastern oregon. ELK HORN mountain. Beautiful north headwall, and north east ridge to summit. Another ridge extending back to another summit. Amazing possibilites. Any direct line DESENDANTS. Amazing winter routes possible if low avy. Has anyone climbed?? Quote
klenke Posted April 9, 2003 Posted April 9, 2003 Been in the area. Tried to climb 9,106-ft Rock Creek Butte (the highest point in the Elkhorn Mountains) there west of Baker City, OR., but threatening T-storm turned me around. Rock Creek Butte is about three miles WNW of 8,933-ft Elkhorn Peak. I assume this is the peak you're speaking of. There's definitely some good climbing there. An example would be Spirit Rock (8,600+ ft) just west of Rock Creek Butte. Looked like a three or four pitch climb on the precipitous west and north sides. A view of Spirit Rock from the northwest: Quote
klenke Posted April 9, 2003 Posted April 9, 2003 Incidentally, here is the northwest side (buttress) of Rock Creek Butte in June 2002. 7,700-ft Rock Creek Lake is in the foreground. There could be a multi-pitch route on this side. At any rate, the mountain is fairly representative of the Elkhorn Mountains in general. Quote
klenke Posted April 9, 2003 Posted April 9, 2003 And, lastly, a topo of the area showing Rock Creek Butte and Elkhorn Peak: Note that last June the road up Pine Creek was in pretty bad shape (big ford for one) way before even getting to Pine Lake. High clearance vehicle like truck or SUV probably recommended. Quote
skyclimb Posted April 9, 2003 Author Posted April 9, 2003 fuck yeah. This topo outlines the ridge i was thinking of exactly. The red outline appears from a distance to be a knife edge ridge that winds its way to one summit, and then on to the actual summit. It appears that you can come down this ridge into the rock butte area?? Nice pics and topo, thanks a million. And did you get a look at the ridge close up? Quote
klenke Posted April 9, 2003 Posted April 9, 2003 I've got pictures of it but from farther away so not scannable and presentable here. I had originally intended to make a loop trip up to Rock Creek Butte from the Pine Creek valley to the ENE, but, as I mentioned, the road turned me around and made me opt for the western approach (but that road wasn't much better). I was thinking that I would come down via a ridge traverse (the red line on the topo) if it looked doable. Since I did not climb up Rock Creek Butte from the lake due to the storm (which never came, but that's another story), I did not see the ridge traverse over to Elkhorn. I may head back over there this summer. I really want to climb RCB. Quote
skyclimb Posted April 9, 2003 Author Posted April 9, 2003 Was that way about two weeks ago, and it looked perfect. That ridge thats in red on the topo looks amazing covered with snow. Looks like a great climb for winter conditions. I am not sure of the duration of a trip in winter. I imagine you could get within a tays trek in by truck easily. Snow shoe in to the base, and then climb. Not sure on the actual duration of the climb, probably 1-3 days. Not sure width of the ridge, looked interesting. Quote
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