I finally had a weekend off from work and softball. I contacted Zach and he was in for a climb. He suggested Jumbo Peak near Featherville. I liked the idea. However, the forecast for that area was for more rain (it has been a very rainy spring). Zach then offered up some peaks in Oregon, where the weather was supposed to be partly sunny. I told him to pick one and we would hit it.

His choice was Vinegar Hill. I laughed. Vinegar Hill!? Sounded lame, but I trusted him that it was a worthy peak. With 2871 feet of prominence, it certainly had potential for good views. For the first time ever, I climbed a peak without looking at where it was and studying the map, fully trusting Zach to get us there and to the summit.

Neither of us even thought to bring snowshoes, as we assumed that the 8000 foot peak would be snow free or nearly snowfree (like Shafer Butte near Boise was). However, as we neared the area, we realized there was quite a bit of snow. We hoped the road would get us close enough to the summit so that postholing would be at a minimum.

The road got us to within 6 road miles of the summit before a drift blocked further progress at 6100 feet. It was a manageable hike, with 2000 feet of gain. Off we headed.

After the first 1/2 mile, the snow became more consistent as we followed the road. It wasn't horrible, but we were sinking in a bit. We were also worried it may get worse during the heat of the day. At 6800 feet, I stared up at an open slope that seemed to head toward the top and was totally snow free. We consulted the map and this appeared to be the open south ridge of the peak. But we thought we had a ways to go before we reached that point... in other words, we experienced a rare "we are closer than we thought" moment.

We continued up the steep, stage brush slopes to around 7500', where we could see the remaining 600 feet to the top. I was surprised to see that the top was rocky. When we reached the summit block, we had to do some non-exposed scrambling. This turned out to be a false summit, but even getting over to the true summit required more scrambling.

The top was incredible. With so much prominence, we were enjoying views in all directions. Central Oregon is a prime locale, with green forests, deep valleys, and snow-capped peaks. The top had remnants of an old lookout. It also contained a register and seemed like quite popular of an outing. The register read a bit like the stall door in a seedy bar, with a few insults flying about. Kind of humorous!

Only one downer to this hike is that there were beer cans EVERYWHERE along the approach road! Keystone Light, Bud Light, Coors Light, Hamms... you name it! Unfortunate for such a beautiful area!

Make your way to Austin Junction (where Highway 26 and Oregon Highway 7 meet). Turn onto Oregon Highway 7 which leads to Baker City. You will only follow Oregon Highway 7 for one mile when you will see on the left the Middle Fork Road. Turn off onto the Middle Fork road and follow it west down the Middle Fork of the John Day River. After travelling down the Middle Fork Road for roughly 2 miles watch on your right for Forest Service Road 2010 aka Vincent Creek Road. This gravel road is the turn off that you need to take.

The road leads all the way to the summit of Vinegar Hill. It is maintained for about 7 miles. We were stopped by a snowdrift at around 7.5 miles.

Vincent Creek Road is maintained for 7 miles. We stopped just past the maintained portion. We left the road just before it intersected a fenceline at 7000 feet. A good idea would be to follow the road until you reach a cattle guard at around 7000', then climb the south ridge near a downed fence from there. This gets you to Point 7738. From the point, Vinegar Hill is in sight.