The hottest week of the year so far coincided with a planned backpacking trip to the Wallowa Mountains to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post). Our first backpacking trip in these mountains began with Heather being ill the first night due to the combination of heat and altitude (post). For that trip we had started hiking after making the six plus hour drive from Salem making it a much later start than normal for us.
We learned from that mistake and for this trip we booked a room in Baker City so we could start our backpack early in the morning. We decided to make the most of our stay in Baker City by taking a short hike on a small section of the Oregon Trail at the Ruts Access trailhead near the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. (The interpretive center is currently closed for renovations.)
A short path led to the Oregon Trail ruts.
We turned left and followed the ruts half a mile to a replica covered wagon near a paved trail.
Hoary aster
The interpretive center on Flagstaff Hill.
Map near the wagon.
It wasn’t entirely clear if the remainder of the trails were open or not, there were no posted closure signs, but the BLM website made it sound as though some of the trails might be closed. The paved Panorama Point Trail would have led us to that viewpoint and up to the Interpretive Center, but it was around 90 degrees out and we had a lot of hiking planned over the next few days. We decided to just hike the 0.3-mile Oregon Trail Ruts Loop and then return to the car and save the remaining trails for another time once the center is reopened.
Our visit here came in just under 2-miles which was a nice leg stretcher after the long drive from Salem. Neither of us can really imagine exactly what it would have been like for the pioneers who made the long trek, but this added a little more history and context.
The stop also provided us a bit of a taste for the heat that we’d be dealing with over the next few days. Happy Trails!
Flickr: Oregon Trail Ruts
wanderingyuncks 