My husband and I did a small multi day hike from Panjab trailhead May 23-May 25. Memorial Day weekend is often our first trip out so we just wanted to break in our trail legs a little after a winter off. We had contacted the Ranger Station ahead of time and as expected Teepee TH was still not accessible due to snow, so Panjab it was! Panjab itself to the Misery/Rattlesnake Junction is a steady uphill, some downed trees, but nothing too difficult to get over considering it was so early in the season.

At the junction we headed up to Oregon Butte. Hit some snow especially the last couple of miles. We wore spikes for the last mile to the lookout to make travel easier, could be done without but it’s nice not to slide around. Snow was still packed down and very minimal post holing. Smooth ridge and Grizzly still under a decent amount of snow for easy navigation and we didn’t want to get ourselves in a tough spot where we’d have to turn back.

We could see why Teepee TH was still snow covered since we hit snow there less than a mile down. Could not find any of the springs before the butte and ended up taking a small detour downhill to Oregon Butte Spring. Spring was partly under snow but we filled up and were just happy that we wouldn’t be melting snow for dinner. We could see how the other springs weren’t able to be found and probably still under snow, we didn’t look that hard though. Saw a coyote dart through the woods on our way back from the lookout. Camped a little ways from the Butte at a perfect little site sheltered from the wind. Too muddy at the top to want to camp there but doable if needed. 

The next morning we found signs a cat had followed our tracks through the snow, maybe we had a visitor in the night? We backtracked to the junction, passed more signs of animal tracks in the snow (bear and more cats) and headed the other way towards the Diamond TH. Wildflowers starting to pop, loved the hillsides full of purple and yellow. We decided to make camp at Clover Spring even though it was an early day but it was surprisingly hot and we just wanted to explore without packs. Plenty of camping sites but disappointed to find trash left in some of the firepits. Did pull a couple of ticks off clothing so beware they are already out. 

Final day temps were HOT! Isn’t it supposed to be May not July? Made our way back to Panjab and got back around 10am but by then the sun was relentless with no breeze so we just enjoyed car camping by the creek. Great early season trip but definitely felt unseasonably warm. Very exposed with all the burnt areas and ridges, bring a good hat and sunscreen. 

The trail passes through a burn area, and it was interesting to see how the area is recovering. All along the trail and as far as I could see, the forest floor  was covered with fireweed, wildflowers, current, huckleberries, and small trees. Many wildflowers are blooming now, with many more still to come. The view from the lookout was pretty amazing in every direction. There were a lot of bugs at the top; other than that, they were not a problem.

We figured the trail had more elevation gain than stated in the trail guide, since we lost a fair amount of elevation as we hiked to the Butte. 

From Dayton, it took us an hour and 20 minutes to get to the trailhead. Most of the road is gravel, and it is in good shape, but we weren't able to get much above 25 mph and often slower. There were even more wildflowers along the road than on the trail.

In spite of the long trip to the trailhead, we were glad that we did the hike and enjoyed getting acquainted with the Blue mountains. 

We have descriptions of this trail from four different sources (two hiking books, WTA and Outsidewallawalla.com), and they all describe different routes to the trailhead.  Although the website Outsidewallawalla.com warns against using Google Maps, its directions were the same as Google Maps so we selected that route.  Starting in Dayton, we headed south on S 4^th Street which turns to N Touchet Road.  After five miles, we turned left on Hatley Gulch Road for 4.5 miles and then turned right unto Eckler Mountain Road. From there the route matches the WTA description.  

The gravel roads were in good to fair shape all the way and would be no problem for a street vehicle, but it is a long drive to the trailhead so give yourself planty of time.  The views from the road are lovely as you cross the Pelouse Plateau and climb gradually into the forests of the Blue Mountains.  There are fine views to the west and north as the road winds along from the ridge tops.

There is plenty of parking at the trailhead, but we were the only ones there on this Thursday morning.  

About a fifth of a mile along the trail we encountered a downed spruce across the trail and had to detour around it. 

At the junction one mile in, we took the right fork and hiked along the ridge and then up West Butte, for lovely views to the north, west and south from the open ridge top.  The grasses were green and wildflowers were abundant everywhere.  Rejoining the main trail required negotiating a steep series of switchbacks, with loose rocks and soil.  Hiking poles were helpful on this stretch. 

The hike from there to Oregon Butte is mostly uphill, but the grade is not demanding.  The final stretch is a relatively flat walk along the ridgetop through flower-filled meadows (see photo).  At the fire lookout (still closed and shuttered), the views were lovely and there are many spots to sit and enjoy being at the top of the Blues.  To the southwest we could see the snow-covered peaks of Oregon’s Wallowa and Elkhorn ranges (see photo), while bits of snow still clung to the east slopes of the Blue Mountain ridges to the north.  One long curve of snow still remained on the east side of Oregon Butte, just below the ridge top, but the snow was long gone from the trail. 

On the way back we took the lower fork, which is shorter and has less elevation change.  This newer trail goes through burned forest all the way and lacks the long views of the other fork.  It was pleasant though, with lots of spring flowers amidst the burned trees and some patches of green forest remaining.  The fireweed is just coming up, but will be spectacular later in the season.  There are a couple of downed trees on this route, but otherwise the trail is in good shape.

One disappointment of this hike is that much of the forest has burned since the trail descriptions were published.  This is evident all along the trail, but especially on the newer, lower fork.  This is no longer a shady route for a hot day, although patches of shade still remain where single trees or small stands escaped the flames.

A friend and I decided to do a short backpack trip into the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness for the 4th of July, arriving the day of the holiday and remaining through Thursday. We settled on a start at Teepee TH to Oregon Butte with plans to extend our hike out along Smooth Ridge. I figured we may need to hike fairly far out onto Smooth Ridge in order to even find a campsite, as we left Spokane mid-morning and didn't arrive at the trailhead until mid-afternoon on the holiday. Wow, were we ever surprised to arrive to a completely empty parking lot on Tuesday afternoon! This meant that we had a very easy hike in, camping near the intersection of Mount Misery Trail and Smooth Ridge right at the base of Oregon Butte. We felt like we had the entire wilderness to ourselves! 

The wildflowers are at their absolute peak right now, and are incredible from the parking lot all the way to the summit. There were more varieties than I can name, but some of the highlights include aster, arnica, lupine, larkspur, paintbrush, columbine, forget-me-not, flax, buckwheat, scarlet gilia, and penstemon. There were several varieties of wild mint, as well as lots of wild onion, which made for some interesting scents along the hike in addition to all of the various hues of blooms. The birds were also busy in the trees, and apparently busy eating insects. It was not very buggy and I never needed to break out the headnet. We did, however, find a few ticks; I guess that's fairly standard for this area, and they were not terrible (3 in total for 2 hikers over 3 days, but once you find one every little itch becomes suspect!).

On Wednesday we did a long dayhike from camp out to McBain Spring (not much downfall along the trail, but the side-trail to the spring has a ton of downfall making access to refill water containers a bit difficult). The tread is in poor shape in a few places near Danger Point, and overall things are quite brushy. The McBain Spring campsite is not quite so trashy as the last time I was there, but is still not what I consider a clean camp. We then continued out past McBain to the end of Yearling Ridge, where we found a truly trashy abandoned camp. The maps show Yearling Ridge as a trail, but it has not been maintained in many years. It is still possible to follow it although the route-finding can be tricky. Yearling Ridge has mostly escaped the recent rash of wildfires in the Wenaha, so it was great to see lots of old growth trees. I've also never seen such a concentration of Browns peony, although they have already finished blooming for the year. By the end of the hike we had a favorite Ponderosa pine and giant western juniper, plus plenty of gorgeous wildflowers. We did most of a sidehike to find Pearson Spring but finally abandoned that idea due to increasingly steep terrain and lots of brush, and our dayhike ended up being approximately 15 miles by the time we returned to camp.

On Thursday we had an easy hike out and decided to do a little light trailwork on our exit. I found a shovel in the trashy campsite out on Yearling Ridge, and used it to clean blocked trail drainage along the way. We also cleared two small trees from the trail with our folding handsaws, and limbed two others that were too big to cut but became easy step-overs (probably even for equestrian users) once we removed the branches. 

Getting to the trailhead was a long drive on a gravel road. There are some deeper ruts the last few miles. One other car when we got to the parking lot, about 9:20. It's uphill, sometimes steeply, the first 1.25 mile, until you break out and start seeing the expansive views. There are super lush wildflowers the whole way alive with buzzing bees and other pollinators. Some flies, but no mosquitoes--not enough shade I suppose. It was very sad to hike in a burned forest; we hadn't realized it would be burned the entire way. We couldn't get enough of the views of rolling hills though. There were lots of birds active along the way. The trail(s) are somewhat overgrown in places, particularly the lower section of the loop near West Butte. But, thankfully, the blowdowns on that section have been cleared away! There are only 4 easily maneuverable ones on the other side.