Feb 12-13, Anthony Lakes, OR

KCS enlightened me as to the existence of a hidden little backcountry gem in Eastern Oregon. I was intrigued, so I headed east, picked her up, and we headed down to Anthony Lakes for a couple of days.
Day 1: We were pleasantly surprised when we rolled into the Anthony Lakes parking and found cold temps, light snow falling, and sufficient coverage. We skinned from the parking lot to Hoffer Lakes and from there headed up the north ridge to the summit of Lees Peak (8626€™).  About two-thirds of the way up the ridge we noticed another party behind us, but they branched off and headed towards Angell Peak. On our ascent we broke trail through 6-12+€ of unconsolidated windblown/fresh snow over a well consolidated layer. The occasional glimpse of sun between the falling snowflakes and light powder easily yielding to our skin-laden skis helped us forget how tired we were from the few hours of sleep the night before. After assessing the snowpack and finding stable conditions, we decided to descend via the north ridge:





We lapped this a couple of times before packing it in and heading to Baker City for gas (no gas station in North Powder) and beers followed by the North Powder Motel for the night.

Day 2: We wanted to nail one of the aesthetic couloirs that seemed to slice each of the surrounding peaks in two (Lakes Lookout Peak, Lees Peak and the aptly named Gunsight). We opted for this one on the north face of Lakes Lookout Peak because it seemed to have the best coverage, snow quality, and options for laps on surrounding terrain after we had our fill of the steeps:







We lapped that chute a couple of times and then did a couple more laps in the trees above Hoffer Butte.

What a great place, thanks to those who responded to my post requesting beta about Anthony Lakes last week!