I spent three days in early October hiking and scrambling in the southern Wallowas of Oregon. After some unsettled weather the first day the skies were clear the next two days. The scenery was beautiful – it seems we have a piece of the Colorado Rockies in NE Oregon. I saw no other person on the trails or peaks, and I had time to pause and absorb the feeling of the mountain wilderness during my long hikes.
I began my trip September 30 by driving the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Road #77 to the West Eagle Trailhead and Campground. I would be camping there the next three nights, having the entire campground to myself each evening and night. The last time I had been at this trailhead was in September of 1972 with a friend from high school and a college friend of his. That night some light rain fell.
