Trip Report
I needed to get out of the inversion in Boise and get some sun and warm temps. I got a couple of friends to agree to go. I missed out on a trip with John, John, and Michael on Saturday and planned on replicating it on Monday. However, they reported back crappy snow and road conditions. So what to do...
Well, I have had Dixie Butte in Oregon on my winter list. The weather there looked fine and I knew the approach was via a highway. Tom and Zach were still interested, so that was the plan. Unfortunately, Zach had a conflict last minute and couldn't go.
Dixie Butte is in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and sports over 2000 feet of prominence. Interestingly, it gets its name from a group of civil war inhabitants of a nearby valley.
Tom and I left Boise early on Monday morning heading to Dixie Summit in Oregon. Once we hit the Nampa area we entered the incessant fog that had been plaguing the valley for over a week. This fog remained with us ALL of the way to Dixie Summit.
Getting our clothes on, Tom was a bit grumbly. You see I had promised Tom sun and 50 degree; and now it was foggy, windy, cold, and we weren't sure what to expect for a trail (would it be packed all of the way to the summit or would we be breaking trail?).
Within a few minutes, it was obvious that the trail was packed by snowmobiles... in fact, we went 1 mile without snowshoes. Then the wind died off and the sun came out. Now Tom was pretty excited.
We followed the trail to the summit through very scenic forest. Other than breaking in to our ankles a few times, the trail was hardpacked until around 7000'. Here we had to sidehill and the snowmobiles had stopped going on the road. Despite breaking trail, the snow was solid and with the peak in site, we made good progress to a saddle at 7400', just below the summit.
The final push to the summit was only 200 feet, but it was warm and we'd already walked 5 miles. It was a bit of a slog to say the least.
The views from the top were great on this bluebird day! There was some valley fog to our south and east, but the valleys to the west were fog free.
We enjoyed the views, the warmth and sun, and ate some lunch. After photos, it was back down the way we had come.
Tom was in rare form and cruising, so like the way up, I saw a lot of his backside on the way down. We eventually made it back to the trailhead, which was now fog free and sunny.
The visibility had improved throughout eastern Oregon had improved, so the drive back was less monotonous.
Great day in the mountains with a great friend. Can't wait for the next trip!
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