Eagle Cap Wilderness, Wallowa Mountains
Plan B was utilized as NCNP permitted trip was cancelled due to road closure/fire. We opted to go to Oregon’s Wallowa mountains and followed one of Douglas Loraine’s loops in the Eagle Cap Wilderness for a six-day, five-night trip. We left Seattle on Saturday, 8/17 at 10:30 am and arrived to our ABnB in Joseph at 5:00 pm. It was 100° in most of SE Washington that afternoon.
Sunday: We had two cars, so parked one at Bowman - Francis Lake TH on the way to Two Pan TH. Got to Two Pan TH around 9 with Moccasin Lake as our destination. Encountered many folks headed out to TH. Ate lunch along East Lostine River. As we passed Mirror Lake and arrived to Moccasin Lake, we saw many people in campsites in both locations. Seems as though a majority of folks spend time in the Lakes Basin area and very little time elsewhere. Heavy use area! Beautiful evening with sunset on Eagle Cap. During this time an alarmed bird sound drew my eyes up as a Goshawk was coming right at me with a bead on its small, winged prey when it saw me and decided to abort its attack. A few minutes later, we watched as an Osprey dipped down to the lake surface for a final evening snack.
Monday: Started the day with side trips. Gatch took the trail up to Glacier Lake and explored while Walden, The Beekeeper and I decided to bag Eagle Cap. Got to the top by 9:45 and enjoyed the view. While there, we met three young men from Eugene who had bagged Matterhorn the previous day. What a beautiful mountain! Then, as we were headed back down, a wedding ceremony commenced and was attended by the videographer, the officiant, and the couple. The rest of us, about seven other hikers, cheered when it was over. We descended, met Gatch and resumed our trip to Minam Lake. Ivan Carper Pass delivered beautiful views back toward Mirror Lake and Eagle Cap. Minam Lake appeared below us and after an hour or so, we set up our tents near the north end of the lake. Only one other group camped here.
Tuesday - Swamp Lake was our destination. The trail followed the Lostine River (a creek, actually) staying mostly in the forest. Eventually, the trail and the river converged, creating an enticing lunch stop. Further beyond, we encountered quite a bit of blow down and, eventually, evidence of a flash flood that wiped out the trail in places. The relatively recent weather event indicated a significant amount of rainfall—probably four or five inches—to create the damage observed. After passing more even beautiful meadows, we turned onto the Copper Creek Trail. Nicely graded, we slowly made the climb to 8600’. We had no idea what we were about to encounter. This was one of the more beautiful sections of trail and once to the pass, we were actually disappointed the scenery didn’t continue. On the contrary, it just got better and the view of Swamp Lake below drew us to its beauty. We found campsites to the west of the northern outlet and set up our tents. As the evening light was extinguished, we sat on huge granite outcroppings above the lake and admired the mountain reflections on its surface. Four groups here.
Wednesday - Our next destination was John Henry Lake. Because of its beauty, leaving Swamp Lake was difficult. In short order we descended some more, first to Steamboat Lake, another gem in the area, all the way down to 5400’ where the Bowman trail split off. John Henry is set in a forest and has a nice sweet water stream feeding it. Three groups camped here.
Thursday - We would spend the last night of our trip at Chimney Lake. It was a short hike, and I was determined to get in one more attempt to fly fish at Wood Lake, about 3.5 miles beyond Chimney. The wind was swirling and the fish didn’t cooperate, so after an hour, I headed back up to the pass and back down to Chimney. On the way to Chimney, Walden actually set down his pack, and assembled his tent at Laverly Lake before hiking up to the pass where we met on my return from Wood. Additionally, Gatch had hiked up to Hobo Lake and on his return to Chimney, also met us at the pass. Who needs to text??? Another beautiful, calm evening at Chimney. Two other groups camped at Chimney that night.
Friday - Cool temps, and blue skies greeted us in the morning. The hike out was relatively easy as we continued down to Bowman/Francis Lake TH where we parked car #1. A weak shower spit on us for the last hour of the hike and then rain came down on our way out towards Lostine. After a stop at the Blue Banana coffee stand, we headed to Joseph and the Josephy Art Gallery. While in the gallery, the skies unloaded with an afternoon thundershower, giving us the full Wallowa Mountains experience.
Overall, we agreed it was a great trip. For the most part, the trail is in good shape, but could use some attention in a few places, ie just past Minam Lake and the first mile or so of Bowman Trail, above its junction with North Minam Trail. Water was plentiful. The pack horses following trails originally used by the Wallowa band of Nez Perce; the silhouettes of dead and living white bark pines; and the variety of birds using this high elevation retreat, are solid memories. Looking forward to exploring other areas of Eagle Cap in the future. #HikeAThon2024
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