I'm hiking into the Wallowas mid-September (probably after Sept 17th when half an inch of rain is expected). Either take the tram up Mt Howard and then hike down to Aneroid Lake and then over Polaris Pass (incredible views!) and over to Glacier Lake/Lakes Basin... or West Fork of the Lostine River over Ivan Carper Pass (also incredible views) up to Minam Lake and then into the Lakes Basin... or something else w/equally great views.
I've hiked into Eagle Cap twice. By the West Fork of the Wallowa River (my trip report).
http://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6328
And by the East Fork of the Wallowa, over Polaris Pass and again into the Lakes Basin... but Polaris was socked in so bad I couldn't see the trail 50' ahead... and then w/a thunderstorm that threw lighting bolts w/thunder booms 3 seconds after the flash. So I still haven't seen the views that are probably the best in Eagle Cap.
Here's a trip report that comes in by the East Fork of the Wallowa and then out on the West Fork Lostine w/a second car left at the trailhead of the Lostine.
http://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6230
Here's one for the East Fork-Polaris Pass route. And a video of the view from Polaris.
http://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19562
If we take the tram to Mt Howard and then traverse over to Lone Rock Pass and Aneroid Lake, it saves a lot of uphill hiking... but Sullivan's Eastern Oregon (hike 52) calls it a 'dangerously steep talus slope'... and the tram costs $29.
http://wallowalaketramway.com/rates/summer-at-the-tram/
Probably 5 days. Some friends are going to be staying at Wallowa Lake Sept 18-20 and I'll probably do a day hike with them the first day and come back to camp at Wallowa Lake.
There's a trail on the backside of Mt Howard that you can use instead of the tram. I forget the name of the trailhead, pretty easy going. A friend and I did that one time, while our wives took the tram. We had dogs, which were not allowed on the tram.
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