Steven's Peak-bagging Journey

June 25, 2025

1862m

La Grande, OR

Mt. Emily is the highest peak of a large wooded plateau to the north of La Grande in NE Oregon. It boasts a steep eastern profile as well as over 500 m prominence, but the “ascent” is nothing fancier than a drive-up. The entire summit area is occupied by communication towers and the views are very limited. The lower flanks of this peak is riddled with FSRs and recreation sites. It’s a popular destination but I just don’t think a lot of the folks do visit the actual summit.

This was the “Plan C” after bailing on He Devil/She Devil and also Rock Creek Butte. I was not in the mood of hiking so desperately looked for something that’s strictly a drive-up. I couldn’t find one that wouldn’t require significant amount of driving detour, so just settled on Mt. Emily even though it doesn’t have 600 m prominence. Erica and Seb reluctantly agreed. After finishing Sacajawea Peak we followed Google’s direction and drove up Mt. Emily. I knew from others’ trip reports that the actual summit has lots of radio towers so we camped near Crystal Spring about 1 km from the top. The next morning we drove up to the summit, snagged a victory shot and then drove all the way back to Vancouver. We eventually got back in time for dinner.