At a height of 7,589 feet above sea level, Sturgill Peak is a beautiful destination to hike to within the Hitt Mountain Range. The elevation gain of this hike was roughly 3000 feet, and can be done in about 5 hours in and out. The hike begins in the forest, with Manns creek flowing beside you much of the way.

The first 1/2 of this hike was not terribly steep, and could be tackled without much effort by hikers of any fitness level. Eventually, however, you find yourself breathing a little harder, and you can see the road in front of you get visually steeper. We took our time, enjoying conversation and beautiful views as we tackled the inclines one at a time. Once 2 hours had past, we were getting closer to the top and had that difficult last hundred feet or so to climb to the summit.

This is where we took time to rest, eat some lunch, and enjoy spectacular views of the Hitt Mountain Range, and the Wallowa Mountains to the West. The trip down was (as expected) a long and steep one, but was certainly a great time to talk about what we discovered about this peak, and each other on this trip. (less info)