We left the trailhead at 12:30pm, going on the Mt. Misery trail, #3113, to Oregon Butte, 3 miles away. The trail was nearly all uphill along forested (Lodgepole pine?) slopes, to West Butte. We hiked over a few remnants of winter snow and saw some birds, chipmunks, and squirrels. At West Butte, we saw open meadows of wildflowers near the summit and had lunch there while admiring the wide-open mountain views. We descended West Butte, then hiked up Oregon Butte. Near the top, there is a side trail to go to the fire-lookout cabin at the summit, elevation 6400 feet. (This was the highest point on our trip.) The 360-degree view was fabulous! We next took the Smooth Ridge trail, #3105, and headed south along descending slopes, on narrow ridges at Danger Point, and down and up to the next butte. We next took a side trail, #3140 (Yearling Ridge), to McBain Spring, at the source of Crooked Creek. We found a horseman's camp near the spring and set up our camp by a rustic table and firering. We had hiked for 4-1/4 hours today, covering an estimated 6-7 miles. McBain Spring, and other springs we saw on the way, are black hoses run into horse-watering troughs from the spring-fed sources of small creeks. These springs and the horse camps are the only man-made sights in the Wilderness area. There are no sign posts marking the trails, which is satisfying for the hiker's wilderness experience, but can cause confusion where there are sidetrails and shortcuts found near the intersections of the main trails.
For supper, we had wine (Shiraz-Cabernet blend), cheese (smoked sharp cheddar), freeze-dried food (beef-rice stew), Raman soup, and herb tea. We cooked with the old Swea stove, but Dale also made a fire for some ambiance. At 7:30pm, the temperature was 55-degF and continuing to drop. It was still pleasant, with blue sky above. Dale went to lie down in the tent and was asleep before 8pm. I stayed up and listened to the noisy birds, woodpeckers, and squirrels. At 8:30pm some white clouds moved overhead. I thought I heard some thunder, so I put up the rain fly and got the packs and camp ready for possible rain (which never occurred). Dusk was at 9pm and I retired to the tent. Temperature was 46F and still falling.
Sunday, June 20
I got up at 6am. There was blue sky and the temperature was 42F. I took a short walk to explore a mountainside meadow, hoping to see elk or deer, but didn't see any. Dale got up at 7:30am, when the temperature had 'warmed' to 46F. We had freeze-dried scrambled eggs & ham, cream of wheat cereal, cocoa, and coffee for breakfast. We packed and left on our return trip at 8:50am. We arrived at the Oregon Butte 'midpoint' at 10:30am. The weather was bright sunshine and the temperature had warmed to 66F. Some of the return trail was gradual uphill, but there were some sections of steep uphill that I didn't care for. After stops at Oregon Butte and West Butte, we saw lots of elk tracks in the snow and mud, where 1 or 2 animals had followed the hiking trail for a distance. We also met 2 pairs of day hikers on our descent to the trailhead. (We only saw 2 day hikers on Saturday and 1 backpacker early Sunday morning.) We arrived back at Teepee trailhead at 12:02pm. We packed up and left the trailhead at 12:30pm, arriving in Dayton at 1:45 for lunch. The return drive to Richland and the Pasco airport was very hot, 90+ degreesF.
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