Prickly Pear Cactus – wanderingyuncks

Buckhorn Lookout – 06/15/2023

We had spent Wednesday wading through poison ivy along the Imnaha River on our way to Eureka Bar (post). Thursday’s hike promised to involve a lot less poison ivy even though the trailhead was less than four miles as the crow flies from the Cow Creek Trailhead where we’d parked the day before. This was because we would be starting over 4000′ higher in elevation at Buckhorn Lookout.

Before we made it to the lookout we stopped to watch a small herd of elk cross the road and run up a hillside.

At least one bull in the herd.

We parked at the lookout and checked out the view there first then walked back along the road 0.2-miles and turned right on Forest Road 780 for another 1.2-miles to a gate.
Buckhorn Lookout

Hells Canyon

Tolmie’s onion

Pale paintbrush

Larkspur, lupine, and northern mules ears.

Prairie smoke a.k.a. old man’s whiskers

Purple sticky geranium

Paintbrush

Parsley, larkspur, large flower triteleia, and Tolmie’s onion

Phlox

We could have driven the 1.2-miles on FR 780 to the gate but the road was not in good shape and after driving to Eureka Bar the day before we weren’t interested in another rough road.

Mallow ninebark

Arnica

Large flower triteleia

Gate at the end of the road.

Marker for the Nez Perce – Nee-Mee-Poo National Historic Trail.

The trail followed an old roadbed downhill 7.6-miles to Eureka Bar, but our plan was to go just 3.6-miles to what Sullivan refers to as the “Eureka Viewpoint”. The entire route was lined with wildflowers. The mixture and types changed as we lost elevation, over 1780′ in all, to the viewpoint.

Columbian lewisia

Seven Devils in Idaho

Lupine, yarrow, buckwheat, and scarlet gilia

Scarlet gilia

Elkhorn clarkia a.k.a. ragged robin

Another impressive scarlet gilia.

Paintbrush, lupine, phacelia, thistle, and scarlet gilia

Penstemon

A phlox

Scabland penstemon

Threadleaf phacelia

Penstemon

Paintbrush

Lark sparrow

Cedar waxwing

Elkhorn clarkia

Wallflower

Skullcap

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Monkeyflower and some tiny white flowers near a seep.

Buckwheat

Mylitta crescent

Rough eyelashweed

Looking back up the trail.

At Spain Saddle the road switched to the opposite side of the ridge.

Bush penstemon

Another type of penstemon

White spiraea

Manyflower tonella

Owl’s clover

Six tenths of a mile from Spain Saddle we detoured left along a fence to a viewpoint.
The viewpoint on the far side of the fence.

Boat on the Snake River.

Salsify

We continued on from the first viewpoint and wound up having to yield the trail to a few cows that were being herded up the trail. After the cowgirl convinced them it was safe to pass by us we resumed our downhill hike.

Bindweed

Thistle with bugs.

Clouds moving in behind us.

Prickly pear cactus

The only poison ivy we saw all hike.

Eureka Viewpoint ahead to the left.

Hairy goldenaster

Fleabane

Eureka Viewpoint

Looking back

Looking down

Clustered broomrape

The most exciting part of Eureka Viewpoint wasn’t the view. It was finding some prickly pear cactus in bloom.

As for the view the three small portions of the Snake River was visible below.

A very small part of the river is visible to the left and more to right.

As we rested at the viewpoint we got to looking around and realized that there was a common nighthawk sleeping on a nearby fence post.

After a good break we began the long climb back to the lookout. The forecast had been for mostly sunny skies but it had grown increasingly hazy all day and there were now even more clouds converging overhead. It didn’t rain so the cloud cover was welcome as it kept the temperature from getting too high. The haze, which was smoke from wildfires was more problematic as it really hindered the views and by the time we’d reached the lookout we couldn’t see nearly as much as we had that morning.
Here come the clouds.

We spotted a rock arch on the way up that we’d missed earlier.

A closer look at the arch.

Common wood nymph

Spotted towhee

Northern flicker

The only time we noticed the Imnaha River from the trail.

Butterfly near the seep.

Mountain parnassian on yarrow.

A painted lady butterfly.

Chipping sparrow

We could actually smell a little smoke at times on the way back.

Tiny trumpet

Hound’s tongue and roses

Cassin’s finch

Western bluebird

Western tanager

Western wood peewee

Hairy Indian paintbrush

Hoary balsamroot

Mountain bluebird

The view in the afternoon from the lookout.

This wound up being our favorite hike of the trip despite the views not being as clear as we would have liked, and is one we would certainly revisit given the chance. We’re pretty sure we saw at least 50 different species of wildflowers and the views were good even with the smoke and clouds. Round trip was 10.8 miles with almost 1800′ of elevation gain, almost entirely on the way back.

After driving back to Enterprise we cleaned up and headed to Terminal Gravity Brewing for a nice dinner with a view of the Wallowa Mountains. The next morning we would be leaving Enterprise and heading for Pendleton via the long way around the Wallowas so we could make three stops along the Snake River. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Buckhorn Lookout

Eureka Bar – 06/14/2023

When I first planned out our trip to Enterprise it included five featured hikes that we’d yet to do: Buckhorn Lookout, Eureka Bar, Dug Bar, Hat Point, and Imnaha Falls. During the weeks leading up to this trip we removed Hat Point due to conflicting information on the status of Hat Point Road. Sullivan’s trail updates listed the road as closed until Summer 2023 and the Forest Service pages listed the Day Use Area as closed but the trailhead as open. I tried reaching out to the USFS for clarification, but they never responded so we swapped that hike with a planned 2024 visit to Hells Creek Reservoir and Dam (two featured hikes).

The next change came when we decided to try and combine Eureka Bar and Dug Bar into a single day versus an overnight stay at Dug Bar. The original plan was to do a 10-mile hike at Eureka Bar then drive to Dug Bar where we could tent camp and do an 8.6-mile hike to Deep Creek the next day before driving back to Enterprise. This was due to the reportedly poor road conditions between Imnaha and the Cow Creek Trailhead (Eureka Bar hike) and even worse road between the Cow Creek Trailhead to Dug Bar. These 15-mile and 11.4-mile stretches of road were said to take a full hour each to drive so why drive the first stretch twice if we didn’t have to. Re-reading the description of the Dug Bar hike in preperation for the trip caused me to rethink this plan since Sullivan’s description of the Dug Bar hike included a one-mile stretch of trail wading through patches of poison ivy. He listed a shorter 1.2-mile option stopping at a viewpoint after only 0.6 miles which sounded much more appealing. This would also be short enough to add to the 10ish miles at Eureka Bar and still be a manageable distance for a single day.

With the new plan in place we left Enterprise and headed for the Cow Creek Trailhead. The road was pretty much as advertised taking an hour to get between Imnaha and the trailhead. The first mile was by far the worst section, but the entire 15-miles were tedious.
Cow Creek Bridge at the Cow Creek Trailhead.

Garbage can at the trailhead.

Before we even set out we were having doubts about Dug Bar. When we arrived there was a herd of cows being driven down Dug Bar Road and a van with bicycles on the far side of the Imnaha River. Driving that road already wasn’t appealing and the idea of encountering cattle or cyclists didn’t make it any better. That was a problem for later though and we set off on a faint trail heading for a trail sign in the distance.

At the sign we turned right on the Imnaha Trail.

We followed this trail 4.2 miles to the Snake River at Eureka Bar. Sullivan mentioned stepping around poison ivy that, along with blackberry bushes, often crowded the trail. As it turned out the brush didn’t just crowd the trail, it had taken over the trail in places. We hacked our way through the non-poison ivy vegetation and relied on our long pants to keep the sea of poison ivy at bay.
Penstemon along the trail.

Geese on the river.

Cliff swallows

Moth mullein

Hawk

Showy milkweed

Prickly pear cactus

Heading into a brushy area.

Rose

Lorquin’s admiral

We were on the lookout for rattlesnakes but didn’t see any (until one crossed the road on the drive back to Enterprise), but I did see three of what I believe were rubber boas.
Can you spot the snake?

The snake heading off the rocks into the brush.

While we fortunately didn’t encounter too many snakes there were hundreds of large crickets.

I cleared this section of trail.

Sumac along the trail.

The only marker that Sullivan mentioned along the trail was this pillar on the right at the 2.8-mile mark.

Painted lady

St. John’s wort and poison ivy.

Skullcap

Becker’s white

Our first view of the Snake River.

One of several reminders of the mining town at Eureka Bar in the early 1900’s.

The Mountain Chief Mine across the Imnaha River.

The Snake River

Chuckar in the brush across the Imnaha River.

Eureka Bar

We followed the trail along the Snake River to a trail post near Eureka Creek. At one time 2000 people lived in this area but after a sternwheeler carrying machinery for a gold processing mill crashed and sank, investors pulled out and the town disappeared.
Skipper on common bugloss.

Imnaha River emptying into the Snake.

Blanketflower

Bindweed

Sagebrush mariposa lily

Another sagebrush mariposa lily

Fleabane

Stones where the gold processing mill was going to be.

Long-leaved ground-cherry (Physalis longifolia)

Orange globe-mallow

Our turnaround point.

Another mariposa lily

Ruins at Eureka Bar.

Common merganser

We returned the way we’d come. It felt like there was somehow more poison ivy on the way back.
A prickly pear cactus near Eureka Bar.

Green cricket on poison ivy.

Lazuli bunting

Mourning cloak

We missed all of these prickly pear cacti on the first pass.

Arriving back at Dug Bar Road.

This hike ended up being 10.8 miles with 350′ of elevation gain.

On the way back to the trailhead we decided that we would not be doing Dug Bar on this day. It was already hot and we’d had enough of the poison ivy. It was also later than we’d expected due to slower hiking caused by the brushy trail. Sullivan had also removed Dug Bar from the featured hikes in his most recent “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” guidebook so we could switch editions and not have to make it back in order to complete our 100 hike goal. Making that switch did mean that there were several other hikes that we’d done that were now no longer featured hikes and we’d have to add some new ones to our plans over the next year and a half to still be on track to finish by the end of 2024.

We wiped off our poles and clothes as best as we could and hoped that we had managed to avoid any exposure to the poison ivy. As of Monday the 19th we both seem to be in the clear. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Eureka Bar