Category: Wallowas

Eastern Oregon

Back in 2016 we set a goal for ourselves to hike all 500 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” series of guidebooks post. In 2020 we completed the first of these books covering the Central Oregon Cascades (post). We followed that up by completing a pair of books in 2021 starting with Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast and Coast Range” 3rd edition (post) followed up by “100 HIkes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” 4th edition (post). Southern Oregon & Northern California was completed in 2023 leaving us with Eastern Oregon.

In 2023 we pivoted from the 3rd edition of Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” to his renamed 2022 1st edition “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” book. This was to avoid needing to make the tedious drive on horrible roads to Dug Bar in Hells Canyon which had been replaced as a featured hike in the newer edition.

The criteria for checking a hike off our list is to hike a portion of Sullivan’s described hike or, at least visit the main attraction(s) he identifies for the hike. For 67 of the hikes we completed the books described route. For the other 33 hikes various factors contributed to us not completing every option of each featured hike. For some we started at a different trailhead, others had portions of trail(s) closed when we visited, and several had additional options that we did not do.

Of the five regions Sullivan breaks his guidebooks into, the Eastern Oregon region is the largest and most diverse. The area covered in this book includes hikes in Oregon east of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon and from Klamath Falls (western most hike) east to the Idaho border. There is however one hike in Washington west of the Deschutes across the Columbia River from The Dalles, OR. It also includes one short option in Idaho (eastern most), one featured hike in California (southern most) making it his only book with hikes in more than two different States. The northern most hike is not the one in Washington. That honor belongs to the Wenaha River near Troy in NE Oregon.

The hikes involved several wilderness areas: Oregon Badlands, Mill Creek, Spring Basin, Strawberry Mountain, North Fork John Day, North Fork Umatilla, Wenaha-Tucannon, Eagle Cap, Hells Canyon, Monument Rock, and Steens Mountain. Missing from this list are the Black Canyon (post) and Gearhart Mountain (post) wilderness areas which had featured hikes in earlier versions of Sullivan’s book that we’d completed, but were removed in the 2022 edition due to wildfire damage.

In addition to the 11 designated wilderness areas there were hikes in two National Monuments, the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon and the Lava Beds National Monument in California, and one National Volcanic Monument, the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Following is a list of the 100 featured hikes and the dates we visited.

#1 Cottonwood Canyon – Hiked 5/27/2017

#2 Columbia Hills – Hiked 4/4/2015 & 4/17/2021

#3 Lower Deschutes River – Hiked 6/9/2018

#4 Macks Canyon – Hiked 5/26/2018

#5 Criterion Tract – Hiked 05/28/2023

#6 Trout Creek – Hiked 10/12/2013

#7 Willow Creek at Madras – Hiked 5/27/2024

#8 Cove Palisades – Hiked 6/16/2018

#9 Gray Butte – Hiked 6/13/2015

#10 Oregon Badlands – Hiked 5/15/2016 & 12/24/2016

#11 Pine Mountain – Hiked 7/30/2012

#12 Paulina Falls – Hiked 8/9/2011 & 9/16/2017

#13 Paulina Lake – Hiked 8/9/2011 & 9/16/2017

#14 Obsidian Flow – Hiked 8/9/2011

#15 Crooked River Wetlands – Hiked 5/29/2024

#16 Chimney Rock – Hiked 9/22/2017

#17 Steins Pillar – Hiked 5/8/2013

#18 Juniper Hill – Visited* 5/27/2024

#19 Mill Creek – Hiked 7/31/2012

#20 Lookout Mountain – Hiked 6/12/2014

#21 Walton Lake – Hiked 6/17/2017 & 6/18/2021

#22 Spring Basin – Hiked 4/22/2017

#23 John Day Fossil Beds – Hiked 4/30/2016, 4/22/2017 & 9/17/2017
Painted Hills Unit

Clarno Unit

Blue Basin Unit

#24 Sutton Mountain – Hiked 4/30/2016

#25 Spanish Peak – Hiked 7/19/2021 & 7/20/2021

#26 Madison Butte – Hiked 5/28/2024

#27 Wildcat Basin – Hiked 7/24/2018

#28 High Lake – Hiked 7/26/2018

#29 Strawberry Lake – Hiked 7/25/2018

#30 Malheur River – Hiked 6/17/2021

#31 Canyon Mountain – Hiked 7/22/2021

#32 Monument Rock – Hiked 7/21/2021

#33 Bates and Sumpter – Hiked 9/17/2017

#34 Olive Lake – Hiked 9/18/2017

#35 Granite Creek – Hiked 9/21/2017

#36 North Fork John Day River – Hiked 9/19/2017

#37 Mount Ireland – Hiked 7/9/2022

#38 Baldy Lake – Hiked 9/20/2017

#39 Crawfish Lake – Hiked 8/16/2018

#40 Anothony Lake – Hiked 8/16/2018

#41 Elkhorn Crest – Hiked 8/12/2018, 8/13/2018, 8/14/2018, 8/15/2018 & 08/16/2018

#42 Twin Lakes – Hiked 8/13/2018

#43 North Fork Umatilla River – Hiked 6/14/2021

#44 Jubilee Lake – Hiked 9/12/2021

#45 Wenaha River – Hiked 5/25/2019

#46 Zumwalt Prairie – Hiked 5/26/2019

#47 Buckhorn Lookout – Hiked 6/15/2023

#48 Eureka Bar – Hiked 6/14/2023

#49 Hat Point – Hiked 7/21/2024

#50 Freezeout Saddle – Hiked 5/24/2019

#51 Hells Canyon Dam – Hiked 6/16/2023

#52 Hells Canyon Reservoir – Hiked 6/16/2023

#53 Imnaha Falls – Hiked 6/12/2023

#54 Bonny Lakes – Hiked 7/24/2024

#55 McCully Basin – Hiked 7/23/2024

#56 Mount Howard – Hiked 7/26/2024

#57 Aneroid Lake – Hiked 8/22/2024

#58 Wallowa Lake – Hiked 5/23/2019
B.C. Falls

#59 Ice Lake – Hiked 7/31/2016

#60 Horseshoe Lake – Hiked 8/3/2016 & 8/04/2016

#61 Hurricane Creek – Hiked 7/22/2024

#62 Eagle Cap – Hiked 8/3/2016

#63 Minam Lake – Hiked 7/25/2024

#64 Maxwell Lake – Hiked 8/21/2024

#65 Chimney Lake – Hiked 8/20/2024

#66 Wallowa Homeland – Hiked 7/14/2022

#67 Bear Creek – Hiked 7/14/2022

#68 Rock Springs – Hiked 7/11/2022

#69 Moss Springs – Hiked 7/13/2022

#70 Catherine Creek Meadows – Hiked 7/10/2022

#71 Burger Pass – Hiked 7/12/2022

#72 Tombstone Lake – Hiked 8/16/2023 & 8/17/2023

#73 Eagle Lake – Hiked 8/13/2023

#74 Bear Lake – Hiked 8/14/2023

#75 Hidden Lake – Hiked 9/9/2024

#76 Summit Point Lookout – Hiked 8/18/2024

#77 Pine Lakes – Hiked 8/19/2024

#78 Fort Rock – Hiked 6/14/2014 & 5/28/2017

#79 Fort Rock Valley – Hiked 5/28/2017

#80 Hager Mountain – Hiked 7/30/2013 & 6/14/2014

#81 Summer Lake – Hiked 7/24/2020

#82 Winter Ridge – Hiked 7/19/2020

#83 OC&E Railroad – Hiked 10/5/2018

#84 Klamath Falls – Hiked 10/20/2018

#85 Modoc Lava Beds – Hiked 10/6/2018

#86 DeGarmo Canyon – Hiked 7/22/2020

#87 Hart Mountain Hot Springs – Hiked 7/21/2020

#88 Petroglyph Lake – Hiked 7/22/2020

#89 Steens Summit – Hiked 8/18/2021

#90 Little Blitzen River – Hiked 8/19/2021

#91 Big Indian Gorge – Hiked 8/17/2021

#92 Threemile Canyon – Hiked 9/3/2023

#93 Pike Creek – Hiked 6/14/2018

#94 Big Sand Gap – Hiked 6/14/2018

#95 Borax Hot Springs – Hiked 6/14/2018

#96 Pueblo Mountains – Hiked 8/20/2021

#97 Leslie Gulch – Hiked 6/11/2018

#98 Coffeepot Crater – Hiked 6/11/2018

#99 Chalk Basin – Hiked 6/13/2018

#100 Three Forks – Hiked 6/12/2018

*The Juniper Hills Preserve is owned by the Nature Conservancy and had been closed to public entry in 2023, so we were unable to hike the trails. We parked and walked to the gates to take photos. If they ever reopen it to the public we will go back.

Completing our featured hike goals provided a sense of relief. While we thoroughly enjoyed all of the hikes, and the Wallowa Mountains became our favorite destination in Oregon, we had begun to put pressure on ourselves to finish. That pressure had begun following the September 2020 wildfires that ravaged parts of the Central Cascades and left many trails closed for years. We had just finished the featured hikes in that area earlier that year and realized how close we’d come to having to put our goal on hold. In the grand scheme of things reaching 500 featured hikes is irrelevant but having worked on it for several years it was something we didn’t want to abandon. We will gig deeper into that in a later post covering finishing the 500, but it’s nice to have the urgency to get to specific places removed.

Setting the goal did provide us with an excuse to visit parts of Oregon that we’d never seen before. While we were checking off the 100 featured hikes we stopped at over three dozen additional spots including eight previously featured hikes. There are still numerous trails left for us to explore so we will almost certainly be heading back to Eastern Oregon from time to time to see new sights and possibly revisit some familiar ones. Happy Trails!

Tags Alvord Desert, Blue Mountains, Boulder Creek Wilderness, California, Deschutes River, eagle cap wilderness, Eastern Oregon, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, Hells Canyon Wilderness, hiking, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, John Day river, Lava Beds National Monument, Malheur National Forest, Malheur River, Mill Creek Wilderness, Monument Rock Wilderness, Newberry Caldera, Newberry Crater, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, North Fork John Day Wilderness, North Fork Umatilla Wilderness, Ochoco Mountains, ochoco national forest, Oregon, oregon badlands wilderness, Pueblo Mountains, Spring Basin Wilderness, Steens Mountain Wilderness, Strawberry Mountains, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness, William L Sullivan

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Hidden Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) Backpack – 09/09 & 09/10/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 13, 2024
4 Comments on Hidden Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) Backpack – 09/09 & 09/10/2024

After delaying the start of our planned backpack to Hidden Lake by a day (post) due to a Fire Weather Warning we had a two-day window of sunny, but smokey, weather before the next chance of thunderstorms was forecast to roll in. That was all the time we needed though to allow us to finish the 100th featured hike from William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” (2022 1st edition).

It would also mark the culmination of our goal of hiking at least a portion of all 100 featured hikes from a single edition of each of the five areas Sullivan splits his guidebooks into: Eastern Oregon, Central Oregon Cascades, Oregon Coast & Coast Range, Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington, and Southern Oregon & Northern California (post). We set our sights on that goal way back in 2016, but we started using Sullivan’s guidebooks six years earlier. We will be covering completing the Eastern Oregon book and completing our goal in separate posts later, but first we needed to hike the East Eagle Trail.

Our plan was to begin at the East Eagle Trailhead and follow the East Eagle Trail to the Hidden Lake Trail (approx. 7 miles) where we would look for a campsite not far after crossing East Fork Eagle Creek. We had been told that there was a spot or two there by a fellow hiker we’d run into during our Maxwell Lake hike in August (post). While camping at the lake sounded nice climbing 1000′ in 1.4 miles with full packs on didn’t.

We arrived at the trailhead to find a few cars parked along the turnaround loop. After filling out a free wilderness permit we followed a pointer for the East Eagle Trail.

The first 0.2-miles followed a rough spur road.

The trail starting at the 0.2-mile mark.

The trail quickly entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness as it gradually climbed, with a few short downhills, along East Fork Eagle Creek.

It was evident that Winter avalanches are common in this valley based on the amount of downed and damaged trees. Despite that the trail was in pretty good condition although there were a few obstacles to detour around.

There were still a few flowers blooming along the way.
An aster or fleabane

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Haze from wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest.

A little over 2.5-miles from the trailhead we passed small corkscrew falls.
Corkscrew Falls

One of the few trees that proved a little tricky.

We also had to be wary of falling fir cones. The resident squirrels were busy dropping them to the ground to add to their Winter stores.

Smoke hanging over the East Fork Eagle Creek Valley.

Penstemon

The different shapes and colors of the peaks in the Wallowa Mountains never cease to impress.

This section of trail appeared to have fallen victim to an avalanche that came down from the far side of the creek then up this one.

Paintbrush

Unnamed waterfall along East Fork Eagle Creek.

The view improved a little as the day progressed.

Coneflower along the trail.

Fireweed

Last of the mountain coyote mint.

California tortoiseshell

Fritillary butterfly

Post marking the junction with the Hidden Lake Trail.

We turned down the Hidden Lake Trail and rock hopped across the creek. After navigating through some more downed trees we spotted an established campsite a little off the trail.

After setting up camp we switched to our day packs and started the climb up to Hidden Lake.

View back across the East Fork Eagle Creek Valley.

More obstacles were present along the Hidden Lake Trail.

More trail damage.

A mile and a quarter from our camp we arrived at Moon Lake.

Gentians

After a brief break at Moon Lake we followed the trail steeply uphill to a pass.

Looking back down at Moon Lake.

The trail leveled out for a bit at the pass and a short spur trail on the left led to an unnamed lake.

On the other side of the ridge is Eagle Lake which we visited in 2023 (post).

Beyond the pass the trail descended briefly to an unnamed creek.

Sullivan’s description said to follow the trail to its end at the creek then cross the creek and head right over a small ridge to find Hidden Lake. I had gone ahead of Heather from Moon Lake so I arrived at the creek first and was a little confused to find a clear trail heading across but an even clearer tread continuing on the near side of the creek.

Since the Hidden Lake Trail didn’t appear to end here I thought the trail to the right simply went to a campsite and continued along the creek.
The Hidden Lake Trail continuing along the unnamed creek.

The trail followed the creek through a meadow then curved away from Hidden Lake and petered out with a view of another unnamed lake.

There were still a few mountain heather blossoms.

The unnamed lake.

I took a quick look at the GPS and realized that I was almost past Hidden Lake now so I cut cross country and found myself on a ridge about 50′ above the lake.
Heading cross country looking for the path of least resistance.

My first view of Hidden Lake.

I made my way steeply down to the lake and picked up a use trail which led me to a meadow at its western end.

Eagle Cap (post) on the left, Galcier Peak at center, and Hawkins Point to the right.

The views were amazing, but I quickly realized that Heather might have the same issue with deciding which fork to take when she arrived at the creek. We had planned to meet at the lake, but it was good sized with a network of user trails which would have made it pretty easy to miss each other. I hiked along the lake shore for a bit then cut away from the lake and made my way to the fork and waited there for Heather to arrive.

Luckily Heather had taken an extended break at Moon Lake so I hadn’t missed her. When she arrived we headed down to the lake together then I led her to the meadow so she could enjoy that view as well.

Monkeyflower

We’d brought our dinner with us so we picked out a spot along the lake where we could relax and possibly prepare dinner when it was time. We had seen two people coming off the Hidden Lake Trail near the junction with the East Eagle Trail, but we appeared to be the only people at the lake so we had our pick of spots.

We set up for the afternoon.

The lake looked to get pretty deep quickly.

View from our dinner area.

I followed a use trail to the eastern end of the lake before settling down.

Gentians

We spent a little over 2:30 hours at Hidden Lake before starting back to camp.
Last look at the lake.

Grass of parnassus

Hawkins Point on the left and Jackson Peak on the right.

Moon Lake

Big cricket

Doe

We got back to camp at a quarter to six and relaxed there for a bit until we got too chilly and decided to turn in instead of adding more layers of clothing.
Unnamed creek near our campsite.

Before we turned in we’d set up a trail cam that we’d finally remember to bring on a backpacking trip. Unfortunately we didn’t refamiliarize ourselves with how to operate it and we accidently switched it to “Test” mode instead of “On”. This turned out to be a real bummer because when nature called around 1:30am and I left the tent my headlamp picked up a pair of eyes at the far side of the small meadow that the camera was facing. It would have been fun to have gotten to see what was prowling around our camp, but at least we remembered to bring it this time.

When we got up at 5am there was no sign of the visitor as we began packing up for the hike out. It was quite a bit smokier as we set off.
View from camp in the morning. The eyes were looking at me from near the tree in the foreground to the left.

Recrossing East Fork Eagle Creek.

Heading into the haze.

A healthy looking paintbrush.

We spend a lot of time fruitlessly scanning terrain for wildlife, but every once in a while, it pays off. About ten minutes to 8am I spotted something crossing a granite outcrop across the creek. It was pretty far away, but it was clearly a black bear. I couldn’t explain to Heather where it was before it disappeared, but I did get a few very grainy photos.
The bear had been walking up the outcrop in the shade in the middle of the picture.

The bear is the black blotch on the rock in front of the tree at center.

The bear just before it vanished behind the outcrop.

That was the last of the excitement for the morning. The views got a little better as the morning progressed.

Hawk in a snag.

Corkscrew Falls

Granite Cliff

“Papa’s Camp” was located at the end of the 0.2-mile spur road.

East Fork Eagle Creek from an old bridge near Papa’s Camp.

Granite Cliff rising above East Fork Eagle Creek from the spur road to the trailhead.

It was 10:30am when we finished the 7-mile hike back to our car. My first day had been just over 12-miles with approximately 2670′ of elevation gain giving us a little over 19-miles for the trip.

This was a good trip with nice scenery and Hidden Lake was beautiful despite the hazy conditions. We can always count on a nice variety of wildlife in the Wallowas, and this trip was no exception. It was a great way to cap off our 500 featured hike goal. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Hidden Lake Backpack

Tags backpacking, eagle cap, eagle cap wilderness, East Eagle Trail, East Fork Eagle Creek, glacier peak, Hawkins Point, hidden lake, hidden lake trail, hiking, Jackson Peak, Moon Lake, Oregon, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Aneroid Lake – 08/22/2024

For the final hike of our trip we’d chosen Aneroid Lake. This would be our 99th featured hike out of the 100 in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” 1st edition (2022) and our 499th out of the 500 featured hikes that we’ve been working on for a number of years now (post). Sullivan gives two options for this hike, a moderate hike gaining 1150′ of elevation in just under 4-miles (round trip) to a waterfall on the East Fork Wallowa River, or the difficult hike to Aneroid Lake gaining nearly 3000′ of elevation in what he lists as a 12-mile round trip. Other reports put the hike to Aneroid Lake at just over 13-miles RT but agree on the elevation gain. Our plan for the day was to once again split up and go our own paces with Heather’s goal being the waterfall and mine being the lake. Heather would return to the trailhead and then head to the Trailhead Coffee stand and do a little shopping in the Wallowa Lake community while she waited for me to get back. We figured that the hike to Aneroid Lake would take me anywhere from 6 to 8 hours depending on how long the hike really was and how well my legs were working after four days of serious hiking.

We began at the Wallow Lake Trailhead which we’d started two other previous hikes from, a five-day backpacking trip (post) and a short hike to B.C. Creek Falls (post). For both of those hikes we’d taken the West Fork Wallowa Trail. Today we would be using the East Fork Wallowa Trail.

Map at the trailhead signboard and wilderness permit station.

Trail sign at the split of the East and West Fork trails.

The trail began by following a rocky roadbed uphill.

Trail sign for the East Fork Wallowa Trail at a junction with a gravel road.

The roadbed soon became a proper trail as it continued uphill.

Ghost pipe

Entering into the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

A little over three quarters of a mile from the trailhead I came to a junction with a connector trail to the West Fork Wallowa Trail used as a loop for horse tours.

Beyond the junction the trail passed through some rocky hillsides with views across Wallowa Lake.

Chief Joseph Mountain and Wallowa Lake

I never saw any but I heard a number of pikas in the rock fields.

Switchback

Rock clematis seed heads.

When Heather came through the rock fields she did spot a pika.

Bridge at the upper end of the access road that I had passed earlier.

The lower section of the waterfall from the bridge.

After checking out the lower portion of the falls from access road bridge I returned to the trail and continued up to a switchback with a view of the upper section of the falls.

The access road bridge from the switchback.

From the switchback the trail continued its steady climb arriving at a damaged bridge after a little over 2 miles.

East Fork Wallowa River Forebay

Interpretive sign at the forebay.

Aster

The trail entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Shortly after entering the wilderness the trail passed through some small meadows with fireweed and various berries.

Elderberry and baneberry

As I was pondering which animals if any might eat the different berries I spotted something brown in the fireweed below the trail. It took a moment to register what I was seeing. I had my camera out and was zooming in to try and identify it, but as soon as it lifted its head I realized it was a bear.
Zoomed in photo.

It didn’t seem to notice me so I quietly and quickly continued on trying to put some distance between myself and it. I wasn’t too thrilled when the trail suddenly made a switchback and I was headed back toward where the bear was, albeit I was now higher up the hillside. I continued with a bit of a quicker pace until I felt that I’d gotten a decent distance away then slowed a bit to avoid missing the scenery. I passed a couple of hikers on their way down who I mentioned the bear to just in case it was still there.

Small meadow along the trail.

Aneroid Mountain in the distance.

Mountain larkspur

Pika underneath some raspberries.

Pika

A few lupine were still blooming along the trail.

Doe in a small meadow along the trail.

Tall mountain bluebells

The damaged footbridge.

While the climb had not been steep beyond the footbridge the climb became even more gradual. Just under a quarter mile from the bridge the trail split with inbound traffic staying right.

The inbound trail traversed an exposed hillside with views down to the East Fork Wallowa River.

East Fork Wallowa River

The inbound and outbound forks rejoining.

East Fork Wallowa River flowing through a meadow along the trail.

Goldenrod

Unnamed creek crossing.

American sawort

Another doe in a meadow.

A hazy view of Aneroid Mountain.

Pearly everlasting along the trail.

East Peak (post)

A closer look at East Peak.

I arrived at Roger Lake at what my GPS said was the 6-mile mark.

It was another half mile of climbing to reach Aneroid Lake.

Sullivan’s description said to ignore a use trail on the right leading to a campsite and to continue on to another fork that led to the private cabins at Camp Halton. I passed what I believed to be the right-hand fork Sullivan mentioned just before reaching a pair of wooden benches along the trail.
The benches.

Beyond the benches I came to a second fork which I mistook for the trail to the cabins. Sullivan mentioned that despite the cabins being on a small parcel of private land the caretakers accepted respectful visitors.

There were no signs posted at all at this fork, so I proceeded steeply downhill and wound up in a campsite.

I still wasn’t sure if this was the trail to the cabins or the one Sullivan had said to ignore so I continued to follow the trail to the lakeshore.
Groundsel along the trail.

A boat docked on the lakeshore in the distance.

I decided to follow the trail along the lake shore and eventually wound up at the boat dock. At that point I realized that I for sure had taken the wrong fork and backtracked.
An inlet creek to the lake near the boat dock.

East Peak from Aneroid Lake.

I followed a different use path that climbed up from the lake a bit more gradually and wound up on the path down to the private cabins.

I started down the trail but when I got into view of the cabins I decided not to bother anyone and took some zoomed in photos and headed back uphill.

Signs for Camp Halton at the actual junction with the East Fork Wallowa Trail.

I headed back on the East Fork Trail and detoured down the first righthand fork to visit the lakeshore one last time before heading back to the trailhead.

I kept a pretty quick pace on the way back down stopping for a few photos and to let a handful of uphill hikers pass.
Hammond’s flycatcher

East Peak

Lewis monkeyflower

Aneroid Mountain

Pollinator on a flower.

The split trail.

The outbound trail dropped quite steeply before meeting back up with the inbound trail.

The damaged bridge from the other side.

Fritillary butterfly

A comma butterfly

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Mount Howard

Coneflower

Wallowa Lake

Quaking aspen

Arriving back at the trailhead.

According to the GPS my hike was 14-miles which lines up better with the reported 13.1-mile roundtrip vs Sullivan’s 12. The extra milage is mostly due to my taking the wrong righthand fork and then backtracking before heading down toward the cabins.

I finished in just over 6 hours and located Heather at the Little Alps Day Use Area near where we’d parked. After taking a break at the picnic table she was sitting at I changed my shoes and socks and we drove down to the Khao Neaow Food Cart to get some tasty Thai food to take back to our room.

This was yet another great hike in the Eagle Cap Wilderness which is easily our favorite wilderness area in Oregon. We’re excited that the final hike in our quest for the 500 featured hikes will be in this wilderness, hopefully a little later this year. Of course there are many other hikes in the Wallowas that we’ve yet to do so that won’t be the last time we visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Aneroid Lake

Tags Aneroid Lake, Aneroid Mountain, Bear, eagle cap wilderness, East Fork Wallowa River, East Fork Wallowa River Forebay, East Fork Wallowa Trail, East Peak, hiking, Khao Neaow Food Cart, Oregon, Pika, Roger Lake, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, William L Sullivan

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Maxwell Lake – 08/21/2024

Continuing on our quest to hike at least part of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” 1st edition (2022) we followed up our hike to Chimney Lake (post) by returning to Lostine River Road for the second day and parking at the Maxwell Lake Trailhead.

Today’s hike was approximately 2.5-miles shorter than the hike to Chimney Lake but gained the same 2420′ of elevation.
Like the previous days hike we crossed Lostine River Road from the trailhead and then crossed the Lostine River on a bridge.

The trail passes through the Shady Campground.

Lostine River

On the far side the bride the trail entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Our plan for this hike was to split up to make the climb at our own pace and then I would wait for Heather at the lake, or until 11am in the event that she decided not to go the entire way. After entering the wilderness the trail initially climbed at a steady pace via 7 long switchbacks.
Unnamed creek crossing.

Thimbleberry

One of the switchbacks.

Climbing into the sunlight.

Possibly a Cassin’s vireo.

Another switchback.

Fireweed

Monkshood

Twisted stalk

Eagle Cap (post)

Looking down from the trail.

Paintbrush

Chipmunk

Shortly after the seventh switchback the trail turned uphill and began a very steep 0.8-mile climb to a pass.
The trail turning uphill ahead to start the steep climb.

Given this was our fifth day in a row of hiking, and fourth significant one, this steep section was a killer. My legs were burning as I made my way up to the pass.

Meadow along a brief section of reasonably graded trail.

Nuttal’s linanthus

The pass in view.

Twin Peaks to the left over the shoulder of the ridge.

From the pass it was 0.2-miles down to Maxwell Lake.
The trail down to Maxwell Lake.

Ground squirrel on alert.

Maxwell Lake

The lake was gorgeous. I explored the shoreline for a moment before climbing up a granite outcrop with a great view of the lake and the trail coming down from the pass. I figured that Heather might be able to see me when she arrived and/or I’d notice her on her way down.

Aster along the outlet creek.

Gentians

Island in Maxwell Lake.

The view from the granite outcrop.

Looking back at the pass from the outcrop.

Last of the snow at Maxwell Lake.

I relaxed for about an hour at this beautiful lake before I spotted Heather coming down from the pass. It was chilly enough that I wound up eventually pulling out my wind jacket which was a wonderful change from our last couple of trips to the Wallowas. She made her way to the outcrop and joined me there. After she’d had a chance to rest we did a little more exploring and followed a use trail to nearby Jackson Lake.
Trail along Maxwell Lake.

Trail to Jackson Lake.

Jackson Lake

False hellebore

Pika raising a warning call. Interestingly the pikas in the Wallowas make a sound that we don’t recall hearing from pikas in other areas. It was almost as if they had their own regional dialect.

After checking out Jackson Lake we started back.
Passing back over the granite outcrop.

Maxwell Lake’s outlet creek.

Trout in the outlet stream.

One last look at Maxwell Lake.

The view from the pass on the way back.

Heading down the steep section.

Aside from the lookout staffer at Summit Point and a couple of backpackers on the far side of Chimney Lake we hadn’t seen anyone else on the Wallowa trails until heading back down to the Maxwell Lake Trailhead. The first person we passed was coming up the steep section. She obviously spent quite a bit of time hiking in the area and was showing no signs of struggling with the steepness of the climb. We stopped and chatted for a bit and we told her about our featured hike quest. When we mentioned that the last hike on our list was Hidden Lake and we were planning on doing it as an overnight backpack she relayed some very helpful information regarding possible campsites. We thanked her and continued downhill running into a couple a little further down that were finding the climb as challenging as we had. We passed several more hikers on the way down, some with backpacking gear and some with fishing rods. We were glad to have had the lake to ourselves while we were there.
The afternoon lighting on the ridge across the Lostine River really brought out the colors.

Eagle Cap way up the valley.

Heather counted at least seven significant drops on a creek cascading down the far hillside.

Fritillary

Canada jay

Police car moth

Back at the bridge over the Lostine River.

Lostine River

The Maxwell Lake Trailhead in the afternoon.

My GPS read 8.6-miles for the hike to Maxwell and Jackson Lakes with a little over 2400′ of elevation gain.

We returned to Enterprise and after cleaning up headed out for an early dinner at La Laguna. The food was good, and their hand made Lagunita’s Salsa Loco had a nice kick to it. We took a slice of blackberry cheesecake to go which was also quite tasty. The next day would be our last hike for this trip and would put us at 99/100 featured hikes from Sullivan’s Eastern Oregon book and 499/500 for all five of the regions he covers. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Maxwell Lake

Tags eagle cap wilderness, enterprise, hiking, Jackson Lake, La Laguna, Lostine River, Maxwell Lake, Maxwell Lake Trail, Maxwell Lake Trailhead, Oregon, Pika, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, William L Sullivan

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Chimney Lake – 08/20/2024

After spending the first three nights of our vacation in Baker City it was time to move our home base to the north side of the Wallowa Mountains. We had three more hikes planned beginning with Chimney Lake. We packed up and made the 2-hour drive to the Bowman-Francis Lake Trailhead.

This was another of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post). He gives two options for the hike, an out-and-back to Chimney Lake or continuing on a nearly 30-mile loop past several other lakes. We didn’t have time for a three-day backpacking trip now, so we set our eyes on the out-and-back day hike.

We followed signs for the Bowman Trail and Chimney Lake which took us across Lostine River Road to a bridge across the Lostine River.

On the far side of the river the trail began to climb. It was a steady but reasonably graded climb using a series of five switchbacks to gain just over 2000′ in a little under 4-miles to a junction with the Chimney-Wood Trail.

The trail entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness at the first switchback.

At the second switchback we came to Slide Falls on Bowman Creek.

Lewis monkeyflower

The views from the trail improved as we climbed above the falls.
Eagle Cap (post) in the distance.

Chipmunk

One of the switchbacks.

Western tanager

Pearly everlasting

Paintbrush

Baneberry

Pika

Bowman Creek

Grass of parnassus

The trail crossing Bowman Creek.

Arnica

Monkeyflower

Bees on American sawort.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Another pika.

Elderberry

The trail leveled off a little at the beginning of Brownie Basin where we stayed right at a fork.
The lefthand fork led to a campsite and meadows in the basin.

Gentians

Meadow in Brownie Basin.

The junction with the Chimney-Wood Trail.

We turned right at the junction and climbed another 0.7-miles to Lower Laverty Lake.

One of several pine siskins that were in these plants.

Aster

Fritillary

Lupine and aster

Butterfly on pearly everlasting

Another western tanager.

Gentians and St. Johnswort

Lower Laverty Lake

A patch of fireweed above the lake.

Hooded ladies’-tresses

American kestral

Lower Laverty Lake

After walking along the lakeshore for 0.2-miles the trail continued another 0.5-miles to Chimney Lake.

Twin Peaks across the Lostine River valley.

Eagle Cap at the far end of the valley.

Heading for Chimney Lake.

Chimney Lake

We continued a short distance around the lake to some granite boulders where we took a break to enjoy the scenery.

Gentians along the lakeshore.

The rocks ahead where we took our break.

Islands in Chimney Lake.

We shared our resting spot with numerous golden-mantled ground squirrels, pikas, and butterflies.
No matter how cute they are, please don’t feed the wildlife (Leave No Trace principle 6).

Sulphur butterfly

We heard more pikas than we saw. Here is the one, blurry, photo I managed to get.

Milbert’s tortoiseshell

Golden-mantle managing to feed itself.

After a nice long break we started back. With the Sun now overhead, the views across the Lostine River valley were clearer than they had been in the morning.

Twin Peaks

Aster

California tortoiseshell

Grouse

A comma, possible green comma.

Back at the bridge over the Lostine River.

Lostine River in the afternoon.

Our GPS put our hike at 11.3-miles with over 2400′ of elevation gain.

We finished just after 2:15pm which was perfect timing for us to make the 50-min drive to Enterprise and be at our motel for check-in at 3pm. This hike was amazing, but we’ve come to expect that from anything in the Wallowas. They never seem to disappoint. I had even spotted a fox hunting in a field on the drive in that morning. (Heather unfortunately missed it.) We settled into our room and prepared for another hike from Lostine River Road the next day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Chimney Lake

Tags Bowman Creek, Bowman Trail, Bowman-Francis Lake Trailhead, Chimney Lake, Chimney-Wood Trail, eagle cap wilderness, enterprise, hiking, Laverty Lake, Lostine River, Oregon, slide falls, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Pine Lakes – 08/19/2024

For our second vacation hike in the Wallowa Mountains we set our sights on the Pine Lakes Trail. This was another of the 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” 1st edition (2022) and would be number 96 for us on our quest to finish all 100 (post). Sullivan gives two out-and-back option for this trail, a 4.2-mile hike to Chute Falls and a 14.8-mile hike to Pine Lakes.

Heather and I had already decided that I would try for the lakes while she was going to aim for Chute Falls. She has continued to struggle with a breathing issue which has caused her to keep a slower pace than in years past making longer hikes problematic from a time standpoint. Our plan was to set off at our own paces and Heather would wait for me at or near Chute Falls. We also established a timeframe in which she should expect me.

The hike begins at the Cornucopia Trailhead which is on private land owned by the Cornucopia Lodge and Packstation. We followed pointers at the lodge to the current parking area.

The current trailhead was approximately half mile from where the public parking area was in Sullivan’s description. That meant an extra mile of hiking for each of us. I threw my pack on and set off on the private road following pointers for the Pine Lakes Trail.
This pointer refers to trail 1880 as “Pine Creek” but other signs and the Forest Service website refer to it as “Pine Lakes”.

This one says Pine Lakes.

Sign for the Packstation.

As I neared the packstation a pair of dogs noisily raced toward me, one a German shepherd. Luckily they were all bark and no bite, but it got my adrenaline pumping. I continued on passing the forest boundary and the small parking area Sullivan had described.
Squirrel with breakfast at the packstation.

The trail follows an old roadbed for most of the first 2.1 miles.
Old footbridge over a dry creek bed. It didn’t look particularly safe so I stuck to the road.

The dry creek bed crossing.

Shortly beyond the dry creek bed I came to the East Fork Pine Creek where a pair of cow elk dashed across the trail and disappeared in the underbrush.

Seeing the elk was exciting. Less exciting was seeing the actual cows after crossing the footbridge. In typical cow fashion their plan for avoiding me was to get onto the trail ahead of me and walk 10 to 20 yards down trail then turn around to see if I was still following.
Black cows on the trail ahead.

Meanwhile Heather was taking pictures of flowers along the road to the packstation.
Coneflower

Snowberry

Try as I might to convince the cows that they simply needed to step off the trail to either side they were convinced that sticking to the trail, and booby trapping it with fresh pies, was the best way to lose me.

West Fork Pine Creek

Formation on the hillside.

Western clematis

Paintbrush

Fireweed

Approximately a mile beyond the packstation I arrived at the first of two bridges over the West Fork Pine Creek. I briefly lost the cows here when they forked right along the creek while I crossed the slightly damaged bride.
The bridge felt stable despite being slanted at a 45-degree angle.

I picked up my pace hoping to beat the cows to the second bridge which was another 1.1-miles up the trail.

View from the trail.

I could hear and see the cows on the far side of the creek, and now they seemed to be racing me to the second bridge. Before getting that far I met a second group of cattle on my side of the creek near a ford where the fist group of cows were now crossing. Lucky for me this new group was a little smarter and they led the first group off trail into the brush leaving me cow free.

The second bridge.

West Fork Pine Creek

Heather caught this cool cloud from her currently cow free hike. (She would run into them later where they’d ducked off the trail in front of me.)

Not far from the bridge was an established campsite just before the trail began to switchback uphill.
Looking back down at the campsite.

Chute Falls is located slightly off-trail near a righthand switchback 0.3-miles from the second bridge.
The use trail straight ahead at the switchback.

I followed the steep use trail 150 yards to Chute Falls.

I carefully made my way down to the base of the falls.

The base of Chute Falls.

After visiting the falls I returned to the trail and continued to climb toward Pine Lakes. The trail switchbacked past the 10′ upper tier of Chute Falls.

I continued uphill through the forest past a view of a waterfall on the Middle Fork Pine Creek and passed into the Eagle Cap Wilderness 1.2-miles beyond Chute Falls.

Looking back down the valley.

View up the valley.

Wilderness sign on the tree marking the boundary.

The Pine Lakes are back up there somewhere.

The trail traversed a rocky hillside with excellent views for 0.8-miles after entering the wilderness before reaching another set of switchbacks. While the climb was gradual the rocky trail tread made for some tricky walking.

Somewhere on the other side of the peaks on the left is the Schneider Cabin where we’d hiked the day before.

Cliffs above the trail.

As I made my way across the rocks I tried to keep my eyes open for any larger animals on the surrounding hillsides. It wasn’t easy due to the tricky terrain, but it paid off when I spotted a few mountain goats on far side of the valley.
I spy mountain goats!

A zoomed in photo of the mountain goats.

I kept my eye on the goats as I continued.

I arrived at another set of switchbacks 0.8-miles from the wilderness boundary that climbed uphill through a rock field where I spotted a single pika that dashed out of sight before I could get a photo.

I believe that is Cornucopia Peak on the left.

Going up.

Fireweed above the trail.

Above the switchbacks the trail leveled out a bit then descended to a basin with a mixture of forest and meadows.

Paintbrush along the trail.

The forest on the other side of the pass.

West Fork Pine Creek

There was a large waterfall flowing down from the outlet of the Pine Lakes. (Not West Fork Pine Creek whose headwaters were beyond the meadowed basin.

West Fork Pine Creek begins somewhere above the basin at the far end.

Rock formations along the cliffs.

Arnica and pearly everlasting

I tried to get a clearer look at the large waterfall but couldn’t find a clear line of sight.

Approximately 3.2-miles from Chute Falls the trail crossed the outlet creek.

Gentians along the trail.

Evidence of an avalanche at the far end of this meadow. It took a lot of trail maintenance to clear the snapped trees from the trail.

Wildflowers lining the trail.

The trail began another series of switchbacks in order to climb above the waterfall and to Lower Pine Lake.
A doe that turned out to be on the trail above me. There was a switchback just ahead of where I was.

The forest in the basin.

The Pine Lakes are in the basin ahead.

Arnica and aster?

Monkshood

Seep along the trail.

Grass of parnassus

American sawort

Something had been bedded down in this little bowl below the trail.

Goldenrod

The valley I’d come up to the right.

Nearly 5-miles from Chute Falls I arrived at the dam at the outlet of Lower Pine Lake. A number of lakes in the Wallows were dammed to control water flow to the surrounding communities.

Lower Pine Lake

The trail headed north around Lower Pine Lake arriving at Upper Pine Lake 0.2-miles from the dam.

Lower Pine Lake

Lower Pine Lake from between the two lakes.

Upper Pine Lake from the same spot.

Upper Pine Lake.

I did a little exploration along the eastern shore and then found a spot in the shade to take a brief break and change into a new pair of socks.

The view from my break spot.

After my break I headed back to Chute Falls to locate Heather. Along the way I stopped for more photos and to look for pikas and mountain goats (to no avail).

Shrubby cinquefoil

White mariposa lily, the only one I spotted, and I’d missed it on the way up.

Yellow columbine, I also missed this on the first pass.

Dusky flycacther

A meadow and the forest in the lower basin.

Fritillary on pearly everlasting

Trail maintenance in the avalanche section.

Loved the rock colors in the area.

I’m guessing some sort of wren.

Caterpillers

I detoured to Chute Falls again to see if Heather was waiting there which she wasn’t, so I hiked down to the campsite where I found her waiting. While I was taking another break we started to talk about the falls and realized that Heather had missed the lower, larger, portion of Chute Falls. She had missed the first user trail and detoured at the next righthand switchback which brought her to the upper tier. I showed her a photo from my phone to confirm that she’d missed that part of the falls then, we hiked up together to check it out.

After making sure she’d seen the rest of Chute Falls we headed for the trailhead.

We picked up the cows again in between the two bridges and herded (followed) them back to where I’d picked up the first group at the East Fork Pine Creek before they finally turned off the trail.

Herding the cattle back past the damaged bridge.

West Fork Pine Creek.

The footbridge across the East Fork Pine Creek ahead. We’d left the cows behind here and made our way back to the trailhead.

Given our starting point, three detours to Chute Falls and some exploring at Upper Pine Lake my hike came in at 16.4-miles and over 2700′ of elevation gain.

The rocky trail surface and amount of sun exposure added to the difficulty of this hike, but luckily there had been a fairly consistent cooling breeze which kept it from feeling too hot. The views were spectacular along the entire route and aside from the cows the variety of wildlife was great. We returned to Baker City and had dinner at the Eagle Cap Grill before turning in for the night for our last night in Baker City. We’d be moving our base to Enterprise the next day for the final three hikes of our trip. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Pine Lakes

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Summit Point to Schneider Cabin – 08/18/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 26, 2024
3 Comments on 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

Tags Cliff Creek Trail, Cornucopia Peak, eagle cap wilderness, hiking, Oregon, Schneider Cabin, Summit Point, Summit Point Lookout, Summit Point Trailhead, Town Gulch Fire, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Mount Howard – 07/26/2024

For the final hike of our week in Enterprise we had purchased tickets for the Wallowa Lake Tramway. The tram was built in 1970 as the steepest 4-person gondola in North America. It takes 15 minutes to travel the 1.83-miles from the 4450′ lower terminal to the 8150′ upper terminal.

The operating hours vary but the tram was running from 9am to 4:30pm so we had some extra time in the morning which we used to check out the Sugar Time Bakery in Enterprise before driving to the tram. We were a little early and did some wandering around Wallow Lake before the tram opened and then were the first riders of the morning.

View after coming back down.

The ride provided some nice views. Fortunately for us it was the clearest morning that we’d experienced all week. When we arrived at the upper terminal we exited our gondola and prepared to set off on our hike.

The tramway from the top.

We were continuing to check off featured hikes toward our goal of completing at least part of each of the 100 hikes featured in William L. Sullivans “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” (post). He describes two options for hikes on Mount Howard – a 1.9-mile loop and a 5.5-mile hike that adds an out-and-back to a spring below nearby East Peak. Heather had opted for the 1.9-mile loop and I was going to try the longer hike so we split up and I headed for the Royal Purple Overlook.

Pointer for the Royal Purple Overlook (right) and Summit Overlook (left).

Penstemon

Heading out to the Royal Purple Overlook.

They do hold weddings up on the mountain.

Lewis flax

Mountain coyote mint

The Hurwal Divide, Point Joseph and Ruby Peak from left to right.

Pete’s Point, West Aneroid Peak, Eagle Cap the furthest away (post), and Craig Mountain.

Closer look at Eagle Cap.

Craig Mountain and the Matterhorn (post).

East Peak

Heather arrived at the overlook just as I was ready to move on to the Summit Overlook. We took a minute to appreciate the view together and then I headed back to the loop.
Pano that Heather took with her phone.

Buckwheat

Pointer for the Summit Overlook.

View from the Summit Overlook. Heather is standing on the Royal Purple Overlook.

Buek’s groundsel

Point Joseph

East Peak as I neared the Summit Overlook.

The Seven Devils poking up above the smoke from Idaho.

Seven Devils

Mount Melissa to the left and East Peak straight ahead.

Sullivan’s 5.5-mile option included taking a short-cut near the Summit Overlook to link up with the trail leading to the spring. While the short-cut path was obvious it was also clear that the Forest Service doesn’t want people using it based on the sign asking people to stay on official trails and the wood placed over the start of the path.

As a compliance officer it’s my job to follow the rules and guidelines and that’s what I did here. It would add roughly half a mile to my hike, but I remained on the loop for another 0.2-miles dropping to a 4-way junction where I turned right.
The 4-way junction.

East Peak from the 4-way junction.

This trail was clearly less utilized than the Summit Loop and it dropped down a ridge before turning toward East Peak and traversing to a saddle below the Summit Overlook.

Mountain bluebird

Climbing to the saddle.

The view from the saddle.

Wood blocking the lower end of the “short-cut”.

From the saddle the trail climbed steeply through some trees gaining 200′ in 0.2-miles.

Looking back at the Summit Overlook during one of my several breaks during the climb up.

The trail continued to climb, but a bit less steeply, for another 0.4-miles to a second saddle.
There were a few obstacles to avoid along the climb as well.

Meanwhile Heather was admiring a spring along the Summit Loop.

The Royal Purple Overlook from the trail.

Up, up I go.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel watching me navigate some blowdown.

The views helped keep my mind off the climbing.

The second saddle in sight.

The angle was enough different from the saddle that I could see a couple of additional peaks.

The Matterhorn on the left and now Sacajawea Peak behind the Hurwal Divide to the Matterhorns right.

The saddle provided a brief level stretch before the trail launched steeply uphill again.

I was now in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The trail gained nearly another 300′ over the next 0.4-miles where I arrived at a faint fork.

East Peak

Lots of buckwheat along this section.

Buckwheat and lupine above the trail.

The fork. According to Sullivan the righthand fork peters out in about 0.2-miles and then it’s possible to scramble up East Peak in another three quarters of a mile. I went left heading for the spring.

The trail lost just a little elevation then made a nearly level traverse below a tiny snow field to arrive at a series of springs.

The McCully Creek Trail which we hiked a couple of days earlier (post) is on the far side of the near ridge.

A phacelia

Lyall’s Goldenweed

Wallflower

Looking back at the trail.

Flowers near the springs.

Shrubby cinquefoil surrounded by bistort and mountain death-camas.

Mountain death-camas and bistort

Looking up at the springs.

Monkeyflower

I ventured past the first large spring and hiked to an open rocky ridge where I gained a view of Aneroid Mountain.
There were several smaller streams below East Peak.

Aneroid Mountain

Ground squirrel

View from my turn around point.

Looking back at my route to the second saddle.

I headed back to the Summit Loop where I continued around the outer loop to the Valley Overlook.
Dusty maidens near the springs.

Heading down to the saddle.

Cairn at the saddle.

Milbert’s tortoiseshell

Pale agoseris

Climbing back up to the 4-way junction.

Back on the Summit Loop.

Crossing the service road coming up from McCully Creek.

Mountain Heather

Pointer for the Valley Overlook.

Spur trail to the Valley Overlook.

Flag at the Valley Overlook.

Wallowa Lake below the Valley Overlook.

Wallowa Lake

East Peak peaking up over the trees.

I returned to the loop and continued another half mile back to the upper terminal of the tramway.

Wallowa Paintbrush

The upper terminal.

It was hard not to stop and order some food from the Summit Grill since it smelled so good when I met back up with Heather, but we had a 6:30 hour drive home ahead of us so we simply hopped back on the tram for the 15-minute ride back down to the car.
Apparently Heather was busy making a friend while I was visiting the springs even though she did not feed any animals.

My hike wound up being 6-miles with a little over 1200′ of elevation gain.
The straight line is the tram ride.

The hiking portion highlighted.

This was a nice way to end our trip, but it would have been even nicer if we’d have felt like we had more time to just hang out up on the summit. Knowing that this had been the best day for the views helped us not wish we’d have scheduled this hike earlier in the week though.

We headed home through the smoke from the various fires and felt fortunate that we were able to get our six days of hiking in and check off half (6 of 12) of our remaining featured hikes putting us at 494/500. We’re still hoping to finish this year but given the fire situation that may be a longshot. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Mount Howard

Tags Aneroid Mountain, eagle cap, eagle cap wilderness, East Peak, Gondola, hiking, Mount Howard, Oregon, Royal Purple Overlook, Sacajawea Peak, Summit Loop, Summit Overlook, Valley Overlook, Wallow Lake Tramway, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Minam Lake – 07/25/2024

After an excellent hike to Bonny Lakes (post) followed by a night of intense thunderstorms I woke up extra early Thursday morning to check various fire and lightning strike maps and the Forest Service website online. While there had definitely been some lightning strikes, the various satellites weren’t showing any hot spots in the area of the Minam Lake Trail so we set off as planned to the Two Pan Trailhead

Even at 6am on a Thursday the trailhead parking was nearly full.

Most of the people parked at the trailhead were likely headed for the Lakes Basin below Eagle Cap (post). It’s 7.4-miles to Mirror Lake in that popular basin by following the East Fork Lostine River Trail. We however were headed for Minam Lake which is the headwaters for the West Fork Lostine River. The trails share tread for the first tenth of a mile before splitting.

This was a neat feature.

We both counted our steps, for me it was 50 and Heather 60.

The Lostine River.

Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness just before the trails split.

Trail sign at the fork.

We headed right on the Minam Lake Trail which climbed steadily for 2.7-miles to a junction with the Copper Creek Trail.

Bridge over the East Fork Lostine River.

East Fork Lostine River

The storm overnight had provided a little much needed rain.

Huckleberries (I’d already picked the ripe ones.)

Elkhorn Peak

Monkshood

Some of the river channels were very calm and crystal clear.

We passed through a section of bent and snapped trees which were probably a result of an avalanche.

The trail climbed more steeply at times over the next 1.5-miles before arriving at a crossing of the West Fork Lostine River. Views also began to open up along this section.
Glacier Mountain

Talus field along the trail. We encountered a gentleman hiking out who we spoke with about the storm. He said it was wild from about 4pm to 9pm with multiple strikes very close. He said he’d had enough between the excessive heat, bugs, and then the storm and was thinking that his days of summer visits might be over and Autumn trips might be his new go to.

Looking back at the other side of Elkhorn Peak.

Nuttal’s linanthus

Looking back down one of the steeper sections. We passed another couple heading out along this section.

Looking up the Copper Creek drainage. Glacier Mountain on the left and Elkhorn Peak on the right.

Off-trail waterfall. We could hear this from the trail, and it was a fairly easy bushwack to get a good view.

The river crossing.

It was another 1.5-miles from the crossing to Minam Lake but only a 300′ elevation change. This section of trail passed along a beautiful, large meadow and recrossed the river after just over a mile.

Yellow columbine

A little hazy looking toward the Sun.

Elephants head

Unnamed creek

An easier crossing of the river here.

First view of Minam Lake.

Minam Lake

Common mergansers

We took a nice break at one of the outlets of the lake then explored a little further along the lake shore before heading back.
Needle Point is the peak in the distance to the far left.

Shooting stars

We could have stared at the rocks along the ridges for hours.

Heading back.

It was a pleasant hike back as the temperatures were finally reasonable. We did hear a helicopter shortly after leaving the lake which then came into view. It didn’t have a bucket so it wasn’t getting water, but we surmised it was performing a smoke check. We had been on the lookout for any signs of smoldering trees that might have been struck by the lightning but didn’t notice any. We found out a couple of days later that there was indeed a fire burning in the Copper Creek drainage due to a lightning strike Wednesday night. We however remained blissfully ignorant.

Violet

Groundsquirrel

Robin

Fritillary

Orange agoseris

The fire was burning up in that basin somewhere.

The talus section in the afternoon.

Spirea

Butterflies and moths were out in force.

Police car moth and another interesting looking pollinator (out of focus).

Prince’s pine

Back at the junction with the East Fork Lostine River Trail.

Left for hikers and right for stock.

Our hike to Minam Lake came to 12.5-miles and approximately 1800′ of elevation gain.

We left the busy Two Pan Trailhead and drove back to Enterprise for one more night. We had purchased tickets for the Wallowa Lake Tramway for Friday which we needed to ride up Mount Howard in order to do the final hike of the trip. The good news was that Friday was going to be the coolest day of the week with improved visibility.

As of 7/28/24 the Elk Horn Fire is just 1.8 acres so hopefully it will remain a small one. There were several other fires sparked by the lighting as well with the Big Canyon Fire being the most likely to grow significantly. It’s already been an ugly year for fires, and we just pray that we get some relief soon. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Minam Lake

Tags Copper Creek Trail, East fork Lostine River, Elkhorn Peak, hiking, Lostine River, Minam Lake, Minam Lake Trail, Oregon, Two Pan Trailhead, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, West Fork Lostine River

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Bonny Lakes – 07/24/2024

With dozens of fires already burning across Oregon another round of thunderstorms were forecasted for Wednesday afternoon/evening. We’d decided on the hike to Bonny Lakes which Sullivan had a 7.8-mile option, an 11.8-mile option, and a 16.3-mile loop. Once again we opted for the shortest option to avoid the heat and storms and to try and to keep the strain on my left leg as low as possible while still finishing one of the featured hike’s options.

After driving the very rocky Forest Road 100 we parked at the Tenderfoot Trailhead and set off on the Tenderfoot Wagon Road which quickly entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
We managed to get started about ten minutes before 6am.

The trail brought us to a ford of Big Sheep Creek. We could have forded across, but then we noticed an old log bridge downstream. We backtracked up the trail and found a spur trail leading to the birdge.

Bugbane and paintbrush

A 2022 wildfire burned the first 3-miles of the trail and left the old footbridge damaged. A steep scramble trail led down to it.

Big Sheep Creek

After crossing on the damaged bridge we rejoined the Wagon Road and began climbing through fields of wildflowers.

Paintbrush and lupine

Wildfire smoke filling the valley behind us.

The trail leveled out and continued to climb gradually arriving at a junction just before the North Fork Big Sheep Creek at the 1.1-mile mark.

Phacelia

Butterfly on buckwheat.

Some of the trees survived the fire.

White mariposa lilies in a meadow along the trail.

Junction with the Wing Ridge Trail.

North Fork Big Sheep Creek

Lewis Monkeyflower along the creek.

The trail crossed the creek and continued the gradual climb past more wildflowers and several more streams for 1.2-miles to another junction. Portions of this section of trail burned fairly intensely damaging the soil and leaving little vegetation, but other areas were covered in colorful flowers.

Canada milk-vetch

Grass-of-parnassus

Bog orchid

Checker-mallow

Bee heading for some monkshood.

<Me in some fireweed.

Getting eyed by a western tanager.

When fires burn too hot they damage the soil which makes it difficult for all plants to obtain the necessary nutrients to grow.

A few plants had been able to take hold.

A healthy patch of paintbrush.

Middle Fork Big Sheep Creek

Monkeyflower

Brook saxifrage

Another severely burned section.

The Bonny Lakes Trail forking to the right off of the Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail.

We turned onto the Bonny Lakes Trail which continued through the fire scar for approximately another half mile before reaching unburned forest.

Wildflowers along the Bonny Lakes Trail.

The wildflowers were profuse along this stretch of trail.

American sawwort

Police car moths

Larkspur and fleabane

The trail recrossed the Middle Fork Big Sheep Creek.

Orange agoseris

After recrossing the Middle Fork Big Sheep Creek the trail followed along it as it climbed toward the Bonny Lakes.

Taper tip onions

White mariposa lilies

The trail came to a rock outcrop a half mile before reaching the lakes where it suddenly steepened. As I approached the rocks I heard an animal sound an alarm. A moment later I spotted a pika.

False hellebore

Checker-mallow

Penstemon on the outcrop.

Mountain larkspur

Pika!

Gathering plants for the Winter store.

On the steep climb.

Mountain heather

After the steep section the trail relented a bit and soon rejoined the creek on the final climb to Lower Bonny Lake.
Ground squirrel

The creek was below between the ridges here.

Stonecrop

As we were passing above a marshy area along the creek filled with swamp onions Heather spotted a monarch butterfly.
Swamp onions

Wallowa paintbrush

Aneroid Mountain and Lower Bonny Lake.

Aneroid Mountain to the right and an unnamed peak on the left.

The lake was beautiful. We followed the trail around the east side of the lake crossing a connecting creek between the two lakes.

Shrubby cinquefoil

Cutleaf anemone seed heads.

Possibly a sandwort.

We followed the trail up a knoll to get a view of Upper Bonny Lake, then left the trail to climb to the top of the rocks to get a view down to the meadows behind the lower lake.

Upper Bonny Lake

Lower Bonny Lake

Aneroid Mountain from the knoll.

After exploring the knoll we headed back down to the lower lake to admire the view once more before starting back.

Spotted sandpiper

Elephants head

White mariposa lily and buckwheat

Jacob’s ladder

Checker-mallow and white mariposa lilies along the trail.

Scouler’s woolly-weed

Gentians

Goldenrod and yarrow

Nuttal’s linanthus

North Fork Big Sheep Creek

The McCully Creek Trail is shown on maps as joining the Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail just to the west of the North Fork Big Sheep Creek crossing but neither of us noticed any sign of its existence. That trail theoretically climbs to Big Sheep Basin then over a pass to McCully Creek where we’d hiked the previous day (post). After taking a short break at the creek crossing we hiked the 1.1-miles down to the damaged bridge and then back to the trailhead.

The haze from the morning had improved now that the Sun had moved on from the east.

Looking down at the un-damaged bridge over a side stream.

Yellow columbine

Big Sheep Creek.

This hike came to 9-miles with a little under 1500′ of elevation gain due to us wandering around a bit at the lake and a couple of other times along the trail.

We drove back to our room in Enterprise and ordered pick-up from Thai Enterprise which Heather picked up shortly before a strong thunderstorm passed through. A little before 5pm we heard the first boom then the wind really picked up. Emergency vehicles were racing through town and debris was flying all over for about 15-20 minutes. The winds calmed down, but the thunder continued off and on for several more hours. We were watching fire reports closely and a new start, the Camelback Fire, was reported at 4:43pm near Highway 82 which was our route home on Friday. Interstate 84 was already closed along with several other highways due to various fires so we were starting to wonder if we would be able to get home. Fortunately the Oregon Department of Forestry was able to jump on this start quickly had managed to have it contained shortly before 10pm. We were also uncertain as to if we would be able to do our planned hike to Minam Lake the next day or if new fires would be ending our vacation early. If that were the case at least we’d gotten to see the wonderful wildflowers and Bonny Lakes which was our favorite hike of the trip thus far. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bonny Lakes

Tags Aneroid Mountain, Big Sheep Creek, Bonny Lakes, Bonny Lakes Trail, eagle cap wilderness, enterprise, hiking, McCully Creek Trail, Middle Fork Big Sheep Creek, North Fork Big Sheep Creek, Oregon, Tenderfoot Trailhead, Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail, Wallow-Whitman National Forest. Main Eagle Trailhead, Wallowa Mountains, wildflowers, Wing Ridge Trail