Inspired by prior trip reports on this site, I planned a combined car camp/day
hike and backpack, Aug. 29-Sept. 5, 2011. We set up base camp at Anthony Lake, about 35 miles northwest of Baker City, Oregon.
At 7,100 feet elevation, Anthony Lake is a cool escape from the summer heat of the Baker Valley.
Anthony Lake and Gunsight Mountain
We got acclimated on Aug. 30 with a day
hike to the summit of The
Lakes Lookout, 8,522 feet. Along the way, we passed some meadows and wet areas which introduced me to some new wildflowers.
Sitka Burnet
Fringed Grass-of-Parnassus
The Lakes Lookout view: Gunsight Mtn on the right, Hoffer Lakes below, Anthony Lake in center distance.
On August 31, five of us embarked on a 4-day backpack of the Elkhorn Crest Trail, a cumulative distance of 31 miles and about 3,600 feet of elevation gain. The rest of the group would continue to car camp and day
hike, meeting us on our exit trail to give us a ride back to Anthony Lake. The north trailhead for the Elkhorn Crest sits next to the Anthony Lake Campground so we could leave our cars at the campsite.
Most of the Elkhorn Crest Trail is between 7,500 and 8,000 feet elevation, so the trail environment is predominantly subalpine, with lots of views. Our first camp was at Dutch Flat Lake, reached by a spur trail off the crest. The Elkhorn Crest Trail is dry, so camps have to be made in lake basins below.
Dutch Flat Lake as seen from the Elkhorn Crest
Our second day on the trail, we hiked about 8 miles, continuing along the crest. As we proceeded south, the vegetation got dryer and more open. We saw lots of evidence of past wildfires.
Elkhorn Crest just north of Nip & Tuck Saddle
After lunch, we found ourselves hiking through mountain sagebrush.
The "Confusing Place" described in prior trip reports is no longer confusing. At the 5-way intersection, the other routes have been blocked off so it is clear that the Elkhorn Crest Trail coincides with a jeep road for a few hundred yards before resuming again.
Our second camp was at Summit Lake. If we had not brought the specific directions for the "Confusing Place," we might have missed the junction with the spur trail because it is not signed although it is marked by a rock cairn.
Summit Lake
Our third day was the tough one. We had to
hike 13 miles from Summit Lake to Twin
Lakes, the next water source. The trail is well engineered, with gentle ascents of one to two percent grades, so the hiking was not difficult.
Alpine Knotweed provided color along this section of the Crest
The air quality was excellent and we could see the Strawberry Mountains on the southwest horizon as the Elkhorn Range curved southeast.
We all paused to make trailside calls. Did someone order pizza to be delivered to our next campsite?
The south facing slope became more open. There was less shade and the sun felt intense at 8,000 feet as the day wore on. We traversed the south slope of Rock Creek Butte, at 9,106 feet the range's highest peak.
Elkhorn Crest Trail with Rock Creek Butte in the distance
Finally, the Twin
Lakes came into view below us in their cliff-rimmed valley.
Looking below us, I spotted a group of mountain goats in a meadow above Upper Twin Lake. Mountain goats were introduced to the Elkhorns many years ago, probably from Olympic National Park. This population is the likely source of mountain goats that occasionally show up in the Columbia River Gorge.
Camp at Lower Twin Lake
The final morning, we went for a
hike to Upper Twin Lake before doing the final leg of the backpack. We found 8 mountain goats grazing in the meadow at the head of the lake.
Then it was time to hoist the packs and head down the Twin
Lakes Trail to meet the rest of our group hiking in to meet us and transport us back to Anthony Lake. The final leg was 3.1 miles and a descent of 2,265 feet. We used the Twin
Lakes Trail to exit because of marginally better access roads than the road to Marble Pass at the south end of the Elkhorn Crest.
The Elkhorn Crest is a great through-
hike trail and practically nobody uses it. We met only 7 other people in 4 days and all were day hikers. We had fabulous scenery, perfect weather and only minor mosquito nuisances.
TRAIL TIP: Oregon Trail RV Park in Baker City has the lowest gas prices in town and sells showers to non-guests for $3. It is on the west side of the exit for the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
