This Eastern Oregon adventure starts with me meeting a fellow climber and Peak Bagger, Jake Hoppe.  We both had met the previous Winter while working at the Historic Stove Pipe Wells Village in Death Valley National Park!  Together, we took trips to Sedona, Arizona, Zion National Park, and climbed the Death Valley Buttes! 

Jake and I met at the Trailhead for what had been deemed the Diablo Peak Scramble.  The entire route was cross-country, and a trail was non-existent.  We met around 0900 after driving down some dirt roads in the middle of nowhere.  The roads reminded me of some of the roads in Death Valley National Park far to the South.  The high desert plateau rose above us… Near where we parked our Jeeps we passed what seemed to be an operational ranch.  The ranch was the only sign of civilization we had seen for some time in this Outback.  I packed my Hyperlite Backpack and Jake his Arc’teryx Pack and we were off.  Catching up on life as we wandered across the terrain.  Navigating to the highest point of the mountain that lies ahead of us.  After some time we found ourselves at the summit.  The views stretch out over the Plains and Valley below… The colors of the land are far below us, a reminder of the Badwater Basin we used to call home.

We prepared to take photographs for sunset, ate our freeze-dried meals… If I recall correctly Jake had Pad Tai.  It felt as if a storm was rolling in.  The wind was so strong that I knocked over my camera and broke my Sigma Wide Angle Lens.  We witnessed what appeared to be Pronghorn far below on the plateau, and on the hike out, we witnessed wild Stallions roaming free.  The phrase “Wild Horse” became an inside joke as we set our sites on the horizon of the next adventure!

-Sky