Forum Index > Trip Reports > Eagle Cap Wilderness - 8/8/08 - 8/17/08 - A wonderful time
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water
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water
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PostWed Aug 20, 2008 10:38 pm 
All Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/bucketwater/collections/72157606827099651/ This was our big vacation for 2008. After 7 months on the Appalachian Trail last year, it is difficult to find something satisfying enough to follow, but this trip met and exceeded all our expectations for a more feasible 'vacation' length. I'm not sure how I stumbled across the Wallowa Mountains sometime this spring, but our first thoughts upon moving to Oregon last November was to do a section of the PCT for our vacation - I feel blessed we opted to visit the Eagle Cap Wilderness instead, no offense at all to the Oregon Cascades. A quick summary: [size=85]8/08/08 - Left Portland at 5pm - Slept in car at Wallowa Visitor Center in Enterprise 8/09/08 - Day 1 - Two Pan Trailhead to Mirror Lake (~7 miles) 8/10/08 - Day 2 - Morning Hike up Eagle Cap, moved camp to Lee Lake in evening - drop camera in water (5 miles RT + 3 miles to Lee) 8/11/08 - Day 3 - Lee Lake to Ice Lake - break fishing pole with large trout (~11 miles) 8/12/08 - Day 4 - Ice Lake / Matterhorn Climb (~4 miles?) 8/13/08 - Day 5 - Ice Lake to Six Mile Meadows (~6 miles - 'vacation' pace) 8/14/08 - Day 6 - Six Mile Meadows to Glacier Lake (~6 miles - 'vacation' pace) 8/15/08 - Day 7 - Glacier Lake to Blue Lake (~6 miles - 'vacation' pace) 8/16/08 - Day 8 - Blue Lake back to Two Pan Trailhead (~7 miles - 'vacation' pace) Sleep @ Hurricane Creek Trailhead with Car-Camping, Beer, & Brats 8/17/08 - Quick drive to tour Wallowa Lake at sunrise, touristy Joseph, then back to Portland[/size] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I dropped Kara (hereafter referred to by trailname Bucket) at work on Friday morning. Neither of us were able to get out early so we left town around 5pm. Lots of haze and big clouds as we passed towards The Dalles. Since driving cross country from Michigan last November, we'd hadn't been further east than Coyote Wall in the Gorge, so it was enjoyable to see some areas we haven't seen really. A drive through The Dalles looking for food yielded monster lines at all the fast food joints as there was a car show, and resulted in frustration on Matt's part (hereafter referred to by trailname Water), and following the Nuvi's (car gps) listed food options, Water decided he could wait for 137 miles until Pendleton for something to eat. Not quite your distances between food options on the Ohio Turnpike. Darkness settled by the time we were in Pendleton, getting a less than fabulous pizza at Big John's Pizza. Later as we drove north on 82 out of La Grande, big thunderheads were illuminated across the sky with brilliant purple-red flashes of lightning. Between gas getting low, gas stations being closed, and unsure of road conditions along Two Pan, along with realizing I forgot the NW forest pass, we spent a somewhat unplanned night in the car at the Wallowa Visitor's center, to Bucket's dismay (this isn't happening again..). On Day 1 of our trip we were awakened to beautiful views of the North Central Wallowa Mountains. We picked up a NW forest pass, topped the gas tank, and got a snack at safeway before heading down Lostine River Rd. to the Two Pan TH. Wasn't thrilled to drive on it with my teeny corolla, but excitement for what was ahead and around us diminished any driving worries like crackers packed at the bottom of your food bag. We were pretty happy with our pack weights with 9 days of food - 26ish lbs.! One treat for this was buying some aged hard cheese and aged salami at a specialty store for our lunches - something we will certainly do again on bigger trips. The hike up to mirror lake was fine, fun, and beautiful. Talked with some FS personnel and saw some horseback folks. Didn't have much luck trying my new pack rod out on the trout at mirror lake and then the skeetos got pretty terrible at dusk, so we were in the tent and sleeping by 8pm. There were other people around but we didn't feel infringed upon and had camped up on a fantastic rock ledge a little ways back from the lake. pictures from day 1: From the car when we woke up!:
Wallowa Mnts from Visitor CenterSM
Wallowa Mnts from Visitor CenterSM
Day 2: woke up quite early, climbed eagle cap, continually marveled at the views, big and small, and then after spending an hour on the summit without anyone else around, came back to camp and decided to move to another lake to cut down on the distance up to Ice Lake on day 3. We ended up at Lee Lake, a few miles away. There was a great spot in the NW corner of the lake - the lake is incredible with an underwater cliff/drop off along the entire north edge. I measured with my fishing pole and line - about 45 feet deep say, 5 feet out from the shore. Caught my first fish of the trip and Bucket caught her first fish EVER! : ) I also dropped our camera into the water while dealing with a hooked trout, hemostats, and the excitement of photography. Understatement: it was a bit distressing. I took it apart and hoped it would dry and maybe still function even half way - though I had my doubts. Fortunately the camera was off when it went in. Eagle Cap Pano:
Eagle Cap PanoSM
Eagle Cap PanoSM
Climbing up, Lostine River Valley in background:
Continuing the climb, view to the SW:
Olympic Support!:
the real king of the mountain:
at the top:
Douglas Lake:
Camp @ Lee Lake:
Trout!:
Edge of Lee Lake:
Day 3: From Lee Lake we rounded Horseshoe lake and were glad we opted not to go there the previous night - it seemed buggier than Lee Lake and generally shallower. Coming off the Lakes Basin down into the Wallowa R. Valley was fine but there were a number of nasty blowdowns that would be time consuming for those with pack animals. Saw a dad & young daughter out hiking and a couple of other hikers, including Don who posted his TR recently. Came across the same FS workers we saw 2 days earlier who recommended specifically that I catch and eat a trout.. Lunch at Six Mile Meadow and then onto the junction with the Ice Lake trail. The trail to ice lake is entirely switchbacks. At one point 6 or 7 of them are visible when looking down. Also there seems to be an old trail of a steeper grade frequently intersecting the current one. It was a beautiful yet a pretty solid climb with a generally heavier pack (for us) along with the constant sun, especially considering we didn't leave Lee Lake until 10:30 or so that morning - on account of me doing camera surgery with it's tiny screws and a micro leatherman. Monday night was also the night for the meteor shower. I was able to look out the screen on our tent all night long and see great meteors - including some huge ones that really streaked across the sky. Bucket's night vision is terrible and she has never seen a meteor before, so she got to see many first meteors and be unwaiveringly sure it wasn't a figment of her vision. I was actually able to see a lot of meteors for the proceeding 3 or 4 nights. Climbing up, with lots of flowers:
And more flowers:
fishing:
The trout I caught/cooked - deeeliciousness!:
Night sky with crags before the meteors:
Day 4: Climbed Matterhorn. Bucket is not a fan of heights so she made it pretty far up the mountain, maybe about 300 or 400 feet below the summit before she was more comfortable sitting than continuing. At the top I took a ton of pictures and had the summit to myself. Two other parties had been up there an hour earlier and we met them coming down, but other than that it seemed a pretty empty day. A lot of the folks at Ice lake appear to have been pack-animaled in, and will probably be leaving on the horses that bring new people in - thus the prime camp spots are continually taking. Maybe no bears ever go to Ice lake but the bear-bags (duffle bag size) were about 1 foot above the ground-rodent control? I know brave rodents that wouldn't hesitate to jump onto a bag that large from above.. kind of weird. Fished more and explored the trail that rounds the lake, took lots of pictures and generally took in the beauty of this amazing place. Matterhorn Pano:
Matterhorn PanoSM
Matterhorn PanoSM
Elephant's Lousewart
At the top:
Looking North from the top:
Oddly Worn Rock:
Bucket in red near the bottom third of the photo - Idaho's Seven Devils in the background
Bucket on the way down (need to see full size-she is in the middle on the ridge):
Day 5: Hiked down out from Ice lake and just did the short jaunt to Six Mile Meadow. Had a nice spot under some trees in the meadow. We witnessed a young scout use about 50 sheets of TP in plain sight of us in a small clump of brush in the middle of the meadow - he either had badger lightning quick cathole digging skills or simply didn't use that technique - Bucket very cordially spoke with a leader about an hour later and they handled it very diplomatically - just saying that Bucket asked him about their trip when they wanted to know why she came over. Then about 10 minutes later they gathered the kids all together and talked about the LNT ethic - and then maybe 40 minutes later a scout-mom who was with the group took the child back to his spot and they burried it - so they didn't embarass the kid at all which we didn't want to happen in the first place-just to practice good technique. Also, I got to burn about a coffee can's worth full of sap that I had found on dead trees - that was impressive! Trout caused the ripples:
Adam Creek Falls:
Adam Creek Waterfall PanoSM
Adam Creek Waterfall PanoSM
Evening Fire:
Day 6: Left camp late again, knowing we only had 6 miles~ to do. The trail past Six Mile Meadows was definitely less maintained. We completely missed the junction with the Polaris Pass trail - my guess is it was in one of the multiple overgrown and totally-in-bloom meadows we went through. Got buzzed by some hummingbirds (oh so acrobatic!). This day was just so beautiful as we gained elevation in the back of the valley and rounded Frazier Lake. There was one ford that Bucket took her boots off - I was able to rock/blowdown hop upstream a bit. Got scorched as we came up to Glacier Lake from Frazier Lake - but the scenery more than compensated for the unrelenting sun. Plus we were more than obliged to accept the continued cloudless days. There hadn't been a cloud in the sky for 2 or 3 days running and this trend continued until we left! I scouted the S. East side of Glacier Lake and found a great spot that was more private and in a clump of trees with views back East towards the valley we came up in. Surprisingly it was an extremely calm and warm night, I suppose on account of the day-time highs. I fished and swam in Glacier Lake, and we enjoyed fooling around with the camera up there taking all sorts of shots. Looking back at the Lakes Basin:
Pano as we approached Glacier Lake:
Glacier Valley PanoSM
Glacier Valley PanoSM
"Take your breath away and not let you catch it chilly":
Sunset:
Each trip requires one very, very, very serious lecture, at some point:
moonrise:
Day 7: Explored around Glacier Lake in the morning, fishing a bit and Bucket did her puzzle book as I meandered from fishing spot to spot. Can't really say enough about the world-class beauty of this place. I've been to Twin Lakes in Lake Clark National Park (there is a PBS special about Dick Prennoke--he lived there for 40~ odd years), and this easily rivals or the beauty (though certainly not the size of grayling, brook, and dolly varden that can be cought) of Twin Lakes. We then packed up and went over Glacier Pass, down past our first night's campsite on Mirror Lake, then up over Carper Pass and down to Minam Lake, before a quick jaunt up to Blue Lake. There was just one other group there, maybe 4 college guys having an outing - they were quiet and we couldn't see where they even camped. I fished a bit and waded into Blue Lake. Sunrise:
Dodecatheon:
Hurwal Divide from Carper Pass:
Destination across the way - Blue Lake:
Day 8: Fished more in Blue Lake in the morning. Lots of big headed, small tailed brook trout - they looked more like eels almost. As we were about to head out, a forest service volunteer came up and was going to dismantle a monster fireplace someone had recently created (holes in the ground all over from where they pulled up cinder block size rocks). Since we do so much hiking but have done less TM and general volunteer work we stuck around and helped distribute the rocks back into the woods while we talked with him. On our way out down the W. Fork Lostine Valley we ran into quite a number of folks headed up to Minam lake for the weekend+. Most people we'd seen at any one time since we'd been out. It was a pretty hike out, though not quite as pretty as the E. Fork of the river - but we're splitting hairs here. We could see smoke (the only "clouds" in the sky) over the ridge and by Elkhorn mountain. We/I had originally planned out more 10 and 11 mile days and if we had followed that routine we would have been in the basin-area where the fire was, so it worked out we scaled back. West Fork Lostine River (with trout):
Elkhorn Mnt. with smoke:
Once we got out, we headed to safeway, ate an immediate meal from the deli to deal with the mental/hunger-overload of selection that occurs when you first step foot into multiple-food-choices heaven after a while in the back country. Once we had saited ourselves on the fried chicken/strips/wings/etc from the Deli we picked up a six pack of New Belgium Skinny Dip, some Brats, and buns, and then headed to the Hurricane Creek TH. The free spots that were available really looked lousy so we opted for pay $6 at the camping area, though the only spot available was near the entrance and itself beatup a bit. We made a fantasticly hot fire and did the brats, only able to eat one each after we had some beers waiting. A drunk guy that had a mattress in his pickup bed and nearly burned his face off lighting his fire with gasoline oped for one of the remaining brats, while a couple from Enterprise who sets up a semi-permanent camp for a few weeks in the summer at the campground even while they work each-day (they sleep there) took the other two, so no food wasted. : ) The next morning we visited Joseph and Wallowa Lake, before heading back to Portland. It felt so much more relaxed and truly vacation-like to car camp the last night and to not feel like we needed to make 8 miles to the car before driving back home. If we can, I think we'll be doing that again too.. getting into town with time to decompress and re-organize was great.

feel free to feel free
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yahmus
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yahmus
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PostThu Aug 21, 2008 12:19 am 
I'm so stoked to see all these trip reports from the Eagle Cap! Your report is great. Love the pictures. That is one FAT TOAD of a trout you caught. What do you bring for a pole? I'm gonna have to pick up an oregon fishing license. Love seeing the tarptent, I keep going back and forth between the double rainbow and a heavier tent. Thanks for the TR! up.gif up.gif

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Don
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PostThu Aug 21, 2008 7:52 am 
Glad to see your images and read more about your trip water. It appears you basically did my trip in reverse. Now that I see your schedule, I think I also passed you at Six Mile Meadow. It would have been around 10:00 am or so. Polaris Pass trail: Shortly above Six Mile Meadow you would have passed a another set of campsites. Shortly beyond (100 yards?) was a crossing of a creek in a gulley. This is where the junction was. But you would have had to look back over your shoulder to see it. Coming down, the Polaris Pass trail was actually more obvious than the main trail after crossing this creek, and I took it. I quickly realized my mistake when I noticed the trail ascending steadily. Thanks for the post! up.gif

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ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!



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ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!
PostThu Aug 21, 2008 11:30 am 
Wallowas blow the enchantments away up.gif up.gif Glacier Lake was my fav so far. It is nice to still see snow there biggrin.gif

"If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
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water
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water
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PostThu Aug 21, 2008 10:23 pm 
Yahmus, I got a small pflueger brand reel and a eagle claw trailmaster III rod - the 6'6" one to be specific--model # ends in 200. Worked great - came with a nice case - though I opted for some black drainage pvc and a single endcap with some foam - a bit anal about protecting it I guess. I only only only used a golden small spoon called " lil' cleo" and that is what I had all my luck on. Occasionally the trout were hitting the surface and ignored my spoon - but I wasn't getting luck on a mosquito fly (which were obviously the hatch) - so I just chalked it up and kept casting - the fishing was great even if the catching wasn't 100% perfect - it was like 85% catch/bite rate. Glad you like the rainbow - don't get a heavier tent. If you can tolerate occasional condensation without being bent out of shape - and this can be greatly mitigated by choosing camp spots under trees - just go with a tent from henry. the trout was deeeelicious, golden flesh. just should have cut up a few pieces of this wild-onion like plant and brought some salt... don't know if its like this in every state but the oregon license is $25 for the year - from the date you buy it until January 1st of the upcoming year - kinda weird in my opinion., you buy it in october you pay $25 and its good for 3 months or in January its good for 12 and you pay the same..

feel free to feel free
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yahmus
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PostSat Aug 23, 2008 8:51 pm 
Thanks for the info. Found the rod and spoon at Cabela's. My brother just talked to some people here in the Tri-cities that just got back from the Eagle Cap, and there is an article about the area in the Mid-Columbian. I had never really heard about the area before this year but am hearing all about it this year. Can't wait to go!

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GeoHiker
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PostSat Aug 23, 2008 8:56 pm 
Thank you for the great report. I did a 2 week stay in the Lostine River area in late June and loved every minute of it. Far too much snow then, so good to see everything melted out and awesome views. Looks like those brookies are stunted. They'll get that way when they over produce and nobody thins them out. I'm hoping the fire season winds down early and I can make it back there in mid Sept. I can't wait to go back. Your TR sure kicked the ol wheels in motion. Maybe late Sept. when the larch is turning........ up.gif

You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye......Eagles
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PetDrAndrea
Penguin of Death!



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PetDrAndrea
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PostSun Aug 24, 2008 8:30 am 
Your pictures are amazing! We did the Minam-Mirror Lake loop last year with a classmate. Now we are seriously considering repeating the journey with a lot more classmates!

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. -Terry Pratchett
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