Wallowa Peaks, October 2014

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.

The next morning, October 1, I started up the West Eagle Trail and soon saw fresh snow on the peaks ahead of me as the fog cleared. I forded West Eagle Creek and soon encountered a large white bull standing alongside a curve in the trail. It seemed calm and I quietly spoke to it as I skirted past, and he let me pass without much reaction.

I took the left fork towards Tombstone Lake and climbed towards the pass. I encountered fresh overnight snow on the trail and soon thereafter I discovered fresh cougar paw prints on the trail. In the following photo I compare one of the cougar prints with my size 12 boot print. I tried to be attentive of my surroundings the rest of this trip.

After losing the trail for a while in a snow-covered swampy plateau at about 7500 feet I regained the trail and followed it to the pass above Tombstone Lake. Here I left the trail to climb the ridge above me to the east, eventually reaching the summit of Peak 8934, unofficially named “Echo Lake Northwest Peak”. I climbed the facing snow slope just left and below the summit and scrambled over summit rocks from the left in the following photo.

My hiking boots and feet were damp from climbing through snow but I was very satisfied with my climb and enjoyed the views from the summit as the clouds moved through the region. Here I studied the next day’s goal – Peak 8949 unofficially named “Traverse Lake East Peak” in the Echo Lake Basin.

I descended the same route and chatted with the white bull as I passed him on the trail near West Eagle Creek. I did not spot the cougar on the descent.

The next morning, October 2, I swapped my damp hiking boots for my climbing boots and again hiked up the West Eagle Trail, passing the white bull near where I had seen him the previous afternoon, and took the right fork towards Echo Lake. This was going to be my first visit to the Echo Lake Basin since 1972 and I tried to see if any of it seemed familiar. I passed Echo Lake and climbed to Traverse Lake, then left the trail.

My goal was to climb “Traverse Lake East Peak” by gaining the saddle on the peak’s west ridge by scrambling up a rock/scree/snow slope near the center of the photo below. There was some residual snow in this gully from two nights earlier. My climbing boots are more rigid than my hiking boots and they helped me step-kick up the gully. Then I climbed just behind the ridge line around some rocky outcroppings to the summit left of center in the photo.

The peak had a double summit, with the eastern-most summit slightly higher. It was a sunny and pleasant day and I savored the view of Echo and Traverse Lakes and “Echo Lake NW Peak” from the summits. I also tried to identify tomorrow’s goal – Arrow Lake Peak – to the east.

I descended the same route back to camp, but missed seeing the white bull where I had seen him that morning. I savored my accomplishments that evening at camp. I had seen no one over the past two days.

The following morning, October 3, I drove to the Main Eagle Trailhead to start my hike. The campgrounds along Eagle Creek were much more popular than the West Eagle Campground and I saw many campers and a few cars at the trailhead. From here I hiked the Main Eagle Creek Trail #1922 up along the creek to the junction with Trail #1937, which I followed up into Bench Canyon towards Arrow Lake.

I took a break at Arrow Lake and planned my route up Peak 8448, unofficially named “Arrow Lake Peak”, rising steeply above the lake to the west. One option was to continue north to the pass and traverse west to gain the north ridge of the peak, but I decided the most likely successful option was to traverse by the lake and gain the south ridge, then follow the south ridge to the summit, visible on the left in the photo below.

The traverse and ascent went well, with some minor rock scrambling high on the ridge to gain the summit. The views of surrounding peaks were very enjoyable from the summit and I considered how I might access those peaks in the future. Needle Point was to the northeast and “Cached Lake South” to the east, and I thought it best to access them on a future trip from Cached Lake.

To the southeast was Heart Lake, the Main Eagle drainage, and “Culver Lake South Peak” rising on the other side of the drainage. Beyond that I could see Red Mountain and Krag Peak on the horizon, two peaks I hope to visit next year.

These three days of solitary camping, hiking, and peak climbing felt renewing. I look forward to many years of further explorations in the Wallowas and other mountain ranges of the US.