“Big Southern” is a mountain stuck out in the middle of the vast Upper Snake River Plain and has fascinated me since I was a little kid. It’s a dormant volcano which is quite remote. After rumbling about 20 miles on rough dirt roads, Brian and I found a parking spot about 5 miles from the base.
We decided to use this 5 mile approach to warm up our leg. Once at the base, it will be about 2500 feet of climb in 4 miles.
Despite the remote location, signage! I was not aware of this.
We quickly transitioned from warmup to workout, funny, it doesn’t look too bad in the photograph.
Not only steep but chunky too.
It wasn’t long before we transitioned to hike-a-bike. As we walked along, we debated whether we should just stash the bikes and hike or keep on pushing. I assured Brian that in a half mile or so it would get ridable again.
In the distance, the Lost River Range.
A switchback! From here, it should be better….
Trees with little or no shade.
Handgliders?
In the distance, Middle Butte, East Butte (we always called it Twin Buttes), and way off in the distance the Menan Buttes. Despite years of living in and around these mountains, I never noticed that they all line up perfectly….. This seems geologically significant.
Summit!
On this south side, 2500 feet straight down!
To the west, Craters of the Moon.
After spending a goodly amount of time at the summit, we smoked our brake pads and agreed that despite our fatigued braking hands the extra work to push the bikes was worth it. We rolled back to the van enjoying our accomplishment.
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