This Is Not a Mountain Range

It really, really looks like a bunch of mountains. But it's one giant fault-block mountain. Bewildering! It is truly massive.

I explored a trail on the east side of the mountain, and camped at Mann Lake at its base. It's really big, and even in June there were some slivers of snow left on the peaks. It towers high above the nearby landscape, and is visible as far away as the highway north of McDermitt. I saw it's snowy peaks from a vast distance away, being one of the first features I noticed when I initially arrived in Oregon. Southeast Oregon is sometimes called an "outback", it is very dry and has features and colors that are similar to Nevada, as opposed to the greenery of the coastal and Cascades regions.

The pike creek trail starts at the side of the unpaved roadway running on the east side of the mountain. As you cross the last strip of the valley to the mountain, you will be walking on what used to be a road for vehicles, but was later redesignated for hikers only. The creek runs along the bottom of what appears to be a canyon, and the trail continues to rise steadily, with an elevation gain higher than 1000ft. There seems to be a conflict between the map posted at the trailhead and the one available on the AllTrails app...the official map at the trailhead shows it ending at the creek and the other seems to lead to a peak. I did not use AllTrails.

The trail crossed the creek a few times but mostly runs above it on the slopes of the canyon. The creek itself is surrounded by many shady trees, while the rest of the trail is surrounded by sagebrush and other small brush. This gives a great hiding place for snakes, and I encountered not one but three of them on my way up. I actually skipped the very last segment of the trail, where it steeply declines back to the creek, choosing to instead appreciate the highest part of the trail and then turn back.

It was a good workout! I had fun on this trail. I may check out some of the trails on the west side if I ever end up back in Oregon. It gave me all the same warm and fuzzy feelings I get when I hang out in Nevada.