Beth and I arrived in John Day, the county seat of Grant County, about 5 p.m. the day before in wonderful, clear and dry weather. We were now toward the end of our 15-day Northwest Journey, heading south through Eastern Oregon after coming down from Washington. We didn't do much on the 28th except drive, from Moses Lake, Washington, south through Kennewick, then into Oregon where we had lunch in Pendleton. From Pendleton south to John Day was about 130 miles of very remote mountainous and high semi-arid grassy valleys. It was all very pretty and not very heavily traveled. We just took our time and stopped occasionally in the small towns to get a drink. We stayed at a "Budget 8" hotel toward the west end of town - it was actually one of the nicer cheapo hotels we've seen.

Our plan for the next morning was to hike Strawberry Mountain, a well-known landmark mountain southeast of town. We left John Day around 7 a.m. and made our way south via US-395 for about 10 miles, then followed a series of paved and dirt forest roads another 25 miles, generally east and north, eventually coming up to the "Roads End" trailhead arriving about 9-ish in more clear, bone-dry and pleasant weather. The Roads End trailhead is one of about 3 or 4 routes to the top. The most popular comes in from the north via Prairie City and is not far from John Day. This route has an excellent trail and is short (3.2 miles one way) but is pretty far from town. We got started in around 9:30.

The first 1.2 miles is along an old dirt road. The elevation gain is minimal - maybe just 100 feet. Along the way the road and hillsides were carpeted in beautiful wildflowers. At the end of this section, the road/trail makes a quick bend right and simply ends, splitting into two trails. Also, for the first time we got a great view of Strawberry Mountain, an attractive symmetrical peak, still a couple miles away. We stayed right and followed a trail for another 1.3 mile or so generally north. The trail gained slightly and dipped slightly, eventually dipping down to a low saddle/bowl area amid a scape of burned trees from a big fire (2002, I believe). Despite the burn, there was much green and new growth so it wasn't all totally grim. The peak was just above us now.

We continued up the trail as it got slightly steep for the first time on the whole hike. It gains to a high saddle and intersects another trail coming up from the north. From here the route traverses the bare scree/talus slope of Strawberry, then enters into a thin stand of juniper and pine. The trail makes a hard left and momentarily ascends out of these trees. The summit was now just a few hundred feet above us. We followed good trails etched into the rock and quickly, made the top, just about two hours after starting, and a total net gain of about 1,300 feet. The top is a somewhat long, narrow ridge but the summit is well-defined and obvious, albeit not very big. The south face of the peak is steep cliffs. We were immediately bombarded by swarms of butterflies! Monarchs, we think. They were everywhere and relentless, but not annoying. They never land on anyone anyway. I had never seen butterfly swarms as thick as we saw here. Where did they come up with "Strawberry" Mountain anyway? We relaxed for almost 45 minutes, watching the flutterers. There was a small windbreak/depression with a tarp rolled up in it ... but no register. After a spell we started back down.

The hike out went quick and very easy. We were back to our car by 1 p.m., where we changed and rested before driving down. From here we drove south along US-395 another hour or so to Burns, where we stopped at a Mexican Food restaurant for lunch. The waiter dropped my plate of food as he brought it out! Beans, cheese, tortillas, lettuse, everything, everywhere! I got another plate. We stayed the night at the Crystal Crane Hot Springs Resort west of Burns, and the next day drove up and made short work of Steens Mountain, the Harney County highpoint.