More on Lake Wallowa and surrounding area, August 30

Back to the Lake we went.  The weather wasn't all that great, mostly rainy which was good for the forest fires, but not that great for site seeing.

I took Tara and went on a short hike up to BC Falls, which is in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and one of the few short hikes. The Eagle Cap Wilderness is vast and most of the lake are 6-8 miles one way and very steep.  Most serious hikers take a light back pack and spend the night.  I wasn't equipped nor did I have a hiking partner to explore..maybe some other time.







One of the more well known overlooks is Hat Point.  There is an actual Fire  Outlook  Tower and everything I read raved about the views.  The single lane dirt road leads out of Imnaha and  climbs almost 4,000 feet for 24 miles and is not for the faint. The elevation at the top is over 8,000 feet.  Alas, it was a cloudy day and we got to the top the tower was socked in and visibility was less than 50 feet.  The vistas of Imnaha River Valley were well worth the drive though.

 We had taken Mt Howard Tram early in the week , but  it was very smokey.   The tram climbs 4000 to the top of the mountain with an elevation of over 8000 feet. There are a series of short hiking trails on top, all pretty level and short.  I think the total mileage altogether is less than 2.5 miles.  It takes the tram about 15 minutes from the valley floor to reach  the top. In addition to it being very smokey it was also cold and windy.  I hiked all of the trails and then headed back down.  You can get a stamp and go up and down the tram as much as you want on the day you purchase tickets.  There is also the option of purchasing two day tickets for a deep discount, which we elected to do.

Really, smokey!

On our last day at the lake we took the Mt Howard Tram back up to the top for breakfast.  It was a beautiful clear, but very cold morning. What a difference a few days and some rain makes ! Wallowa Lake from the Tram.

Eagle Cap. 

A panoramic view of the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

No, those are not white wild flowers.  It the other white stuff...you know it as ICE.  Burrrr. Signs that summer is coming to and end soon.

We headed down and checked out of the park. Next stop Baker City...?  Hopefully there will be better Internet along the way and I can keep up on the blogs.