I've been spending two weeks on this mountain every year for the past 15 years but have never seen it quite like this before. I've worked at Steens Mountain Running Camp every summer for 15 years and have run all over this mountain. This is an incredible traverse across a very special place that I hold near and dear to my heart because of the camp, the people, the memories, and the mountain. This route takes in the entirety of the mountain from it's northern end to southern end. The highlight of the route is definitely the middle third over the summit of the mountain but by just spending time in this zone you miss a lot of what makes this area special. The flanks of the mountain are under appreciated but hold the majority of the wildlife, lack of people, and the spirit of the west.
I've had this route in my head for the past few years and when Christof put it up a few years ago I knew it was time to do it. I invited Jackson Brill along because this mountain is special to him as well. We scheduled our trip for Tuesday July 11th because this was going to be our Steens Big Day. The marquee event at the Steens Running Camp is the Big Day and always on Tuesday where the kids run 28 miles and for many of these kids becomes a life changing event. I figured that would be apropo because this was going to be a life changing event for us as well.
We started at 5:30am on Tuesday from the north on Hwy 78. Following the crest of the mountain roughly along Christof's original route but trying to stay true to the crest as closely as possible. This meant a slightly longer and harder route by scrambling up the gunsight notch at the top, hitting the true summit of the mountain, and several of the smaller prominent peaks along the way. We made good time traveling about 3.5mph until we got on top of the Kiger Plateau where our forward progress slowed considerably across the more difficult top of the mountain. The rocky ridges where scrambling was involved moved our mile times up above 45min per mile in some places. We saw the sun set just as we were on top of Little Wildhorse Ridge and knew we were in for a long night. We moved slowly but steadily all night but my feet were really starting to hurt from all the off trail uneven terrain. While the first half felt good, the second half was a struggle to get to the finish. When the sun finally came up in the morning we were looking at 10 miles to go of a small mountain range that did not seem to fit with the route and at that time totally unnecessary to the route other than we had to make it down to Hwy 205 so we had to do it anyway. With a little burst of energy from the sun and with feet screaming at me we hit the last 8 peaks and headed down to the car parked on hwy 205. Finally done with an unforgettable adventure and the longest time we've ever spent on foot at one time.
Our original plan in this was to do it as an self-supported or unsupported adventure but we were able to convice a videographer to come along so it automatically disqualified it from either of those. So, we have a supported effort done in a self-supported style but with a sweet video that we can inspire others to visit, protect, and inform others about the Steens Mountain area. I'd call that a win!
This is a very difficult route with the only contact point on the summit of the mountain at about 40 miles in. There were two flowing streams on the northern half, a bit of snow still on top, and only one flowing stream on the southern half. Water is in short supply so make sure you prepare well for that. Thunderstorms are frequent in the summer as well and you don't want to be stuck on top in lightning. There is also a technical 5.2ish pitch to climb up the gunsight on Kiger Ridge. It's not mandatory and you could cross below it if you wanted to.
Comments
Yay, congrats, well done!!