Summit Point to Schneider Cabin – 08/18/2024

After traveling to Baker City the day before we were ready to kick off five days of hikes which, if successful, would bring us to 99 out of the 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivans “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” 1st edition (2022) guidebook (post). The first of the hikes that we had planned was to Summit Point Lookout.

We weren’t sure that we were going to be able to do this hike due to the Town Gulch Fire which was burning a little over three miles to the south of the Summit Point Trailhead. A forest order was issued on August 7th closing some of the forest. In looking at the order and accompanying map it appeared that part of FR 7710 from Carson might be included in the closure. On the other hand a note on the order mentioned that FR 7700 was open north of the FR 7700/7710 junction. The Forest Service website provided directions to the trailhead via Carson and FR 7710 with no mention of a closure so on Friday Heather called the Pine Field Office in Halfway to inquire about access. The person she talked to indicated that the trailhead was open and that the route from Carson was currently the only way to access it. They mentioned that there might be a road closed sign, but that was actually further than we would be going. While that answer had surprised us it had come from someone at the Forest Service so we drove to drove to Carson and turned up Carson Lane (eventually FR 7710). We did indeed come to a “road closed” sign along the side of the road, but we had expected that, so we continued on. When we arrived at the junction with FR 7700 there was another road closed sign to the south on FR 7700 but no signs indicating that FR 7710 heading east toward Carson was closed. We turned right on FR 7700 which, per the forest order, was for sure open then turned right again on FR 7115 and followed it to the trailhead.

The Cliff Creek Trail followed a closed section of FR 7715 for a mile steeply uphill to the lookout.
Smoke rising from the Town Gulch fire to the south.

Scarlet gilia

Paintbrush

Town Gulch Fire

Penstemon

Pearly everlasting and aster

Big Lookout Mountain

Summit Point Lookout from below.

At the 0.7-mile mark the Cliff Creek Trail split off to the left while FR 7715 continued right.

Cornucopia Peak

The Summit Point Lookout with the Town Gulch Fire behind the forest below.

The lookout staffer came out to greet us and she was a bit surprised that we were there. She asked if the forest order had been rescinded or amended to which we said no but then we explained the conversation between Heather and the Forest Service employee at the Pine Field Office. She still seemed puzzled, but a little less so after learning we’d come up from Carson. She did mention that she had thought she’d seen someone else up at the trailhead a couple of days before. She then asked us where we were headed and told us to enjoy and that while there is a wolf pack in the area she hadn’t heard or seen any wolves. We left the lookout and returned to the junction with the Cliff Creek Trail and turned right, once again confused as to if we really had been allowed to drive up here. (If we did in fact violate the Forest Order we apologize as it wasn’t our intent, and we do not condone or encourage anyone to intentionally do so. As of 8/22 the closure area has been lessened and the drive to the trailhead is clearly outside of the closure.)

The Cliff Creek Trail followed another old roadbed gradually uphill to a crest with a view of Little Eagle Meadows below Cornucopia Peak.

The Elkhorn Range (post) in the distance.

The Elkhorns

Finch

The trail crossed a fence at the southern end of Little Eagle Meadows.

Little Eagle Meadows and Cornucopia Peak.

The trail descended through the meadow passing into the Eagle Cap Wilderness along the way.

The wilderness sign in the distance.

Birds on a wire.

The views along the trail were amazing. In later July there is also a plethora of wildflowers along the route.

Trail marker

Ground squirrels

We veered right here but had to be careful not to follow one of the many cow trails leading off into the meadows. Our GPS maps were helpful.

Looking back up the hillside.

Dry pond along the trail.

Sullivan gives three options for his featured hike here. The shortest option is the 2-mile out-and-back to the lookout. His second option is to continue on the Cliff Creek Trail for an 11.8-mile out-and-back gaining 2120′ to Tuck Pass above the Pine Lakes, and the third continues down to Pine Lakes before turning around. That final option is 16.2 miles and 2950′ of elevation gain round trip. With four more days of challenging hikes ahead both of his longer options seemed overly ambitious. That and the fact that the next featured hike we had planned was Pine Lakes (via the Cornucopia Trailhead) led us to a different destination, the Schneider Cabin. Hike Oregon includes the hike to the cabin on here website. It is one of her members only hikes and her write up convinced us that the cabin would be a worthy destination. This out-and-back would be just over 7 miles with only 1480′ of elevation gain. (BTW – We would highly recommend checking out Hike Oregon and considering becoming members. While we haven’t had the opportunity to meet Franziska, she puts a lot of effort into her content and provides good information on a number of hiking related topics.)

Following the Hike Oregon route when we reached an unsigned fork near the pond we veered right on the Cornucopia Trail.
Savage Peak is the round peak at the center.

Heading toward Cornucopia Peak.

The cabin was visible in the distance at times from the trail.

Near the cabin we ran into a herd of cattle who had a lot to say about our presence.

Yarrow along the trail.

Green around a small stream.

The Schneider Cabin

Cow at the cabin.

The cabin is still used by hunters and snowmobilers and possibly hikers.

View from the loft.

Summit Point from the cabin.

Summit Point Lookout

After visiting the cabin we returned the way we’d come, disturbing the cattle again as we passed by.
Torn up trail tread.

Cricket

Tree full of mountain bluebirds.

Arriving back at the fence.

Hawk

Northern flicker

Butterflies on Greene’s goldenweed.

Fritillary butterfly

Becker’s white

Smoke from the Town Gulch fire.

Insect on chicory.

Arriving back at the trailhead.

The GPS put this hike at an even 7 miles with the 1480′ of elevation gain.

An enjoyable hike with great views that would have been even better in the latter part of July when the flowers were blooming. We drove back to Carson without incident and then returned to Baker City to clean up and then head out to dinner at the Oregon Trail Restaurant. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Summit Point to Schneider Cabin