July 5, 2025.
8.9 mi. | 3230′ ele. gain | 6 hr. | Long Hollow Summit to undulating SW ridge
I’ve casually been working through the 75 Scrambles in Oregon list since moving to the state nearly 2 decades ago. This was one of the handful of peaks I had left. Though I didn’t take the (easier) route laid out in the book, I found another way up the mountain from a convenient overnight camp spot. I thought it was just going to be another desert ramble. At the moment I had no idea what lay ahead of me.
After spending a lovely fourth of July way up on Steens Mountain, I was excited to spend even more time in the diverse and interesting Oregon desert. It’s the least recognized and understood part of the state, so I try and visit as often as I can. These off trail desert rambles help me appreciate and value this landscape more and more.
I left Aaron at Long Hollow Summit, starting my hike around 1 pm. I found a very basic trip report on SummitPost describing an 8-mile route that follows an undulating ridge. That sounded like a perfect way to spend the afternoon.
The start of the hike involved hiking up a steep hill, under the careful watch of (presumably) an angry prairie falcon. I held my pole over my head in case she decided to start dive bombing me, but that never happened. As I walked, I scanned the ground for wildflowers. I knew there were some rare plants in the area and I’m always interested in learning more about desert flora. It didn’t take me long to notice some cute little buckwheat plants growing in small patches in the sand. I couldn’t tell if it was one of the unusual species or just a local variant of a more common plant, so I took a bunch of pictures and kept moving. I had some miles to cover.
The ridgeline I followed is composed of several broad bumps of similar prominence that rise high above the valley floor. Although the total elevation gain from trailhead to summit is 1400′, I gained over 3000′ in the course of the afternoon. I kept gaining and losing the same few hundred feet with every bump. There are no trails out here, so all of the walking involved cross country micro-navigation between clumps of vegetation, rock outcrops, hollows and other desert features. While I enjoy all that stuff, it became quite tedious after awhile.
Occasionally I would snap out of the annoyances of desert walking, stop and look at cool things I found. Most often, it was a curious bird or a colorful plant. But at one point I found this really interesting crystal formation in the lava rock! That was totally unexpected.
I foolishly attempted to avoid some of the ups and downs by sidehilling some sections. It was almost never better, in some instances it was much worse. But with each dumb diversion from the route, I happened to stumble across another species of buckwheat. I racked up at least 7 or 8 species, in bloom, over the course of the hike! This is my favorite plant genus, so I was really excited to make these discoveries. At least two of the species I had never seen before in real life.
At 4:20 pm, I reached the summit of Alvord Peak. I knew I still had a lot of climbing to do to get back to the van, so I filled my belly with as much food and water as I could handle. Then I had to mentally pump myself up for a bunch more walking. I made fewer flower stops on the way back, but I just couldn’t ignore them all. I found an unusual white paintbrush and yet another buckwheat I hadn’t seen on the hike in. By the time I got back to the van at 7:15 pm, I was ready for dinner and a good rest!
Looking back, this was a really fun route that I may have enjoyed more if it hadn’t been so brutally hot and if I hadn’t felt like I was racing the clock to get back. I was thrilled to see so many cool rocks, crystals, flowers and views. Perhaps looking at the route profile ahead of time would have made me better prepared to tackle all the ups and downs, too. But, sometimes I prefer just getting started without worrying about every little detail. Each hike like this makes me a stronger, smarter and more resilient hiker.
