Day 1, August 18, 2017: Portland to Laverty Lake.
We pulled out early and headed up the gorge, stopping in Hood River for coffee and Pendleton for beer and burgers at the Prodigal Son Brewery. Well worth the visit.
We continued east to La Grande, then Elgin, Wallowa, and Lostine, then heading south to the Bowman Creek trailhead. It was 3:45 when we got on the trail, crossing the Lostine River and climbing up the ridge.
Lostine River
Laverty Lake
It took us three hours to get up to Laverty Lake, which was small, but came with some nice views.
Day 2: Laverty Lake to John Henry Lake.
We woke early and went up to Chimney Lake to check it out.
Chimney Lake
Given the opportunities for fishing I want to revisit this lake and nearby Hobo Lake.
We then packed up and headed to John Henry Lake.
John Henry Lake in the Distance
Here, the brooks were on the bite and we had a good afternoon, working our way around the lake and filling our frying pan.
Day 3: John Henry Lake to Steamboat Lake.
On our way out from John Henry Lake, we noticed a mine that we didn’t see on the way in.
We looked around a bit, then dropped down into the Minam Creek basin.
We had lunch in lush meadows filled with elk tracks. There must have been quite a herd.
We then made a strong climb up out of the Minam to Steamboat Lake.
Steamboat Lake
This was a nice sized lake with a good population of feisty brooks.
We were all alone at this lake and enjoyed the remoteness.
Day 4: John Henry Lake to Minam Lake. Eclipse Day!
We hit the trail, passing interesting Swamp Lake.
Swamp Lake
We made the summit just before the pending eclipse. We weren’t in the totality zone, but the lights did dim quite a bit. We were at around 8400 feet, and the eclipse left me feeling a bit odd.
We continued down Copper Creek and then headed up the Lostine to Minam Lake. It was a long day.
Minam Lake
Day 5: Minam Lake to Mirror Lake and Eagle Cap.
We made a quick climb over Ivan Carper Pass
Ivan Carper Pass
Pond Next to Mirror Lake
We dropped into Mirror Lake. It was smokey.
Mirror Lake
Mirror Lake has some of the best views of Eagle Cap. Everyone wants to be there. There are fairly strong restrictions on where you can camp and we watched the ranger chase off a couple that had pitched too close to the lake.
We set up camp and then hit the trail to the top of Eagle Cap (elev. 9572).
There was some smoke, but the views were pretty stellar none the less.
Day 6: Mirror Lake to Moccasin Lake and Glacier Lake.
We made an early move to Moccasin.
Moccasin Lake
We then dayhiked over Glacier Pass to Glacier Lake, which is on the backside of Eagle Cap.
Glacier Lake
Then back to camp. I decided that some more fishing was in order, and hiked over to Douglas Lake and picked up a few more brooks.
Douglas Lake
Day 7: Moccasin Lake to Two Pan and Bowman Creek Trailheads
Last day. We headed down the Lostine, passing through gorgeous meadows along the river.
At one point I heard a low howl and I wondered whether the local wolf pack was watching.
Pothole
We passed down out of the high country and came to Two Pan Trailhead. This was obviously the most popular way into the wilderness as there were a couple hundred cars parked there. We continued down the road to Bowman Creek Trailhead and then found a good spot on the river to bathe and clean up. We then headed to Enterprise and had lunch at the Range Rider. A great old school cowboy bar with tasty sandwiches.
We camped in a campground along the Lostine.
Day 8: Ice Lake
Two of us brothers decided to do a day hike to Ice Lake, which is high above Wallowa Lake. We left Brother 3 in Joseph and then pounded our way to Ice Lake, which is just below Sacagawea Peak. There were some nice falls along the way.
It was a brutal 15.5 hike with 3000+ feet of climb. Great day though.
We picked up Brother 3 and then headed back to Portland. It was a long ride, but we were very happy.
