What do you do when bad weather cancels your planned climb of Mt Rainier? Go backpacking in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness!

Our backpack started at the Diamond Peak trailhead at the end of USFS road 4030. This road had just melted out and is in its usual adventurous condition. The real adventure began on the initial hike up to the Mt Misery trail. The first mile has several dozen trees down across it, plus lingering snow, making the path circuitous and difficult. Once you reach the top and gain the beautiful meadows of the Mt Misery trail the hiking becomes much easier.

Since we started in the afternoon the first day's hike was about 6 miles total to Clover Spring. The going was decent after the initial section, but we still stopped to clear broken limbs and small trees off the trail. Where we could, we sawed branches off of downfall to make "tree hopping" or "tree limbo" much easier. The camp site at Clover Spring has a convenient spring that fills a hollowed-out log, right on the trail. Camp here and you will have expansive views to the south.

The next day we hiked to Indian Corral, where several trails intersect (Crooked Creek, Panjab, Mt Misery). Dunlap spring burbles from in the woods not far from ideal camp sites. We decided to take a long break to dry the condensation off of our gear, made a note of the camping possibilities here, and continued to Oregon Butte.

At Oregon Butte we stopped for a nice rest at the fire lookout and took in the views to the Seven Devils and Wallowas. On days with extremely clear weather you can see Mt Adams and Rainier in the distance. It was still early in the day so we decided to head back to Indian Corral to camp, making for 12 miles of hiking total with about 2,000' of gain for the day.

Our hike out the third day completed our out-and-back trip.

Expect to see beautiful flowers, animal tracks, and if you're lucky, the animals themselves. My hiking companions saw a bear but I wasn't quick enough to see it before it ran into the woods.

Hiked with a few friends to check out the highest point in the Blues.  Probably hiked it the last time possible in fall, as snow was already on the trail/road, and there was more on the way according to the forecast.  Views were awesome, no bugs.

It's a lovely year at Oregon Butte. The air has been clear with big views almost every day. There are still some huckleberries to be found on northern aspects. There have been some small fires from lightning strikes in the broader area but firefighters have been quickly dispatched and able to control them easily. One item of note is that the approach on the 4608 road that leads to Teepee Trailhead is 6 miles, not 5, so don't give up! The road dead ends at the parking lot. Also to note - the springs are nearly dry, it's normal for this time of year because the aquifer is fed by snow melt. Plan on bringing water or filling up very very slowly. You can still filter from the trough or head over to emergency springs near the top of the Panjab where it trickles a little longer into the fall. If you head up from Teepee, the trail forks at about the halfway point - both ways go and rejoin together. I recommend taking the right fork over West Butte and coming back on the other side. 

The Panjab loop is in good shape this year and it's about 17 miles if you do the whole thing. 

The three of us left the Teepee TH around noon on Sunday.  It took us a couple hours to get to our camp on the butte.  We saw only a handful of other hikers.  The water was still flowing at both Emergency Springs and Oregon Butte Springs.  The weather was beautiful. The Paintbrush was still in bloom.  The huckleberries were great in our oatmeal.  Exploring the lookout is fun.  We did a little impromptu hike down Grizzly Bear Ridge for some real solitude.

Great time of year to be in the Blue Mountains.  Weather was warm, almost no bugs, and the wild flowers were blooming.  Camped at an established camp site on the ridge top.  One of the best views in Washington.