This is a bit of a scouting mission as I’d only been to the Blue Mountains a couple of times and those were the pre-summit hunting days. Two relatively easy looking targets: Mount Misery W7W/WE-003 and the Garfield County High Point W7W/WE-002.
Happy to report that the Umatilla National Forest roads were surprisingly wide a smooth, making the long drive to get into the business bearable. As you get closer to the summits, the road does begin to narrow and roughen, but nothing notable.
Garfield County High Point was first up and was a relatively easy trail hike from the parking area below. The activation zone was wide open with some nice views, especially to the south-east.
After that clean activation, I made my back to the car and then relocated a bit closer to Mount Misery. There was a nice pullout along the otherwise narrow section of road just below the summit. The hike up was steep with no trail, but straightforward.
I spent a fair amount of time looking south towards unactivated Prominencians Peak W7W/WE-013 and Halsey Butte W7W/WE-010. Both have been on my radar for quite some time and although I didn’t make it out this year, I’m hoping for a 2026 attempt. The terrain looked to be super rough and overgrown—it’ll probably be a pretty difficult and long day for each.