Oregon Butte — Saturday, Jun. 5, 2021

Got out to Oregon Butte, my third southeast standing WA fire lookout today (the other two being Big Butte and Clearwater).

The drive may be long, but the trail is definitely worth it: the views are excellent along the ridge and at the lookout itself on a clear day. There are a variety of wildflowers blooming—Spanish bluebells, orange paintbrush, avalanche lilies, balsamroot, a wild variety of parsley I forgot the name of, and a wild clover (I think?) which I’ve never seen before (ejain noted that this is “big head clover”).

The trail is a bit tricky to navigate now due to the snow and a blowdown blocking a switchback, but all in all it’s not that hard to track. Just be sure to get a map/GPS device first and follow the trail to your heart’s content.

One of the best days I’ve had in a bit and the great start to a weekend down in southeast Washington. Timing it just right to catch the sunset made for awesome views of moody clouds shuffling across the sky as yellow deepened to orange, then retired to purple and blue. Sadly, no views of Pahto and the Eaglecap Wilderness today due to weather (dust storms) and nearby wildfires in OR (Joshua Canyon Fire) 😕. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to come back and visit Mt Misery sometime.

Other thoughts

• This trail/area seems to be really popular with stock owners: there’s a lot of novel stuff across the trail and at the trailhead that I haven’t seen in other areas in WA (water diversion troughs, stock troughs, etc).
• There are plenty of established and dispersed campsites along the way, as well as a first-come-first-serve campsite at the trailhead, so I wouldn’t be worried about having to make a single day to and from the area.