Wander the West

Rock Climbing in the Elkhorns

	Rock climbing at Anthony Lakes

October 2005

In October my wife and I spent 4 days with friends in Elkhorn Mountains. We stayed in the valley near Baker, Oregon. My wife and I are off and on rock climbers, and had heard that the Elkhorns offered some good granite climbing if you knew where to go. I spent some time prior to the trip trying to come up with some reliable beta. There is a disappointing lack of climbing info on line about rock climbing in this area however. I ultimately got connected with a guy who had done a little climbing in the area and he was able to give me some excellent directions to a developed sport route site.

The country is gorgeous. One of the prettiest areas to hike, mountaineer, or rock climb. The ½ mile hike to a high alpine lake was exhilarating and beautiful. We found ourselves in a granite basin surrounded by incredibly rugged, high peaks. Ultimately the directions I had been given proved to be accurate. The climbing wall was a long granite face that angled up a steep draw. There were two bolted routes with 7-8 bolts each. There were multiple top rope opportunities available as well.

I on site climbed both of the bolted routes. My wife then followed and was able to clean the lower clips. I ultimately cleaned the rest of the clips on my second run. Climbing granite is definitely different than the basalt and sandstone that I am used to. It’s very gripping and you can smear on stuff you normally could not. The holds were very small and most of it was picking and narrow nubbins. I don’t know what the developers of these routes rated them, but I would guess 5.9. They were certainly more difficult than they appeared from the ground. (For more pictures of the routes with anchor markings see the picture gallery).

I would recommend that people interested in climbing in this area do some serious research before going. There are numerous areas where top rope could be set up, but it will take some exploration to get to anything good.

Rock Climbing in the Elkhorns Photos

- Eric Davis