Overview:  Eagle Cap Wilderness lies in the Northeast of Oregon.  It is a wilderness of granite peaks and basins that reminded me much of the sierras.  It would make a good trip to see some of the country side of Oregon and get out of town for a few days.  Day one consisted of lightning, hail and showers, we were in for it.  Day 2 the weather improved and we set up a wonderful camp and day 3 back home.

Route:  Leaving Bend early we had quite a drive ahead of us.  After making the drive to Enterprise we headed straight into a large nearby valley.  It was a 10 mile dirt road to the end of the road where the trail began.  We would do a loop and travel up one valley and stay at Mirim lake. Then the following day up over 2 passes to a beautiful high alpine lake called Glacier.  The next morning would be spent heading back to Mirror lake, then down the Lostine River trail back to the trailhead.

As we pulled into a large parking lot filled with cars the weather took a turn for the worst.  Hail started battering the car and it was coming down by the bucket.  We just sat there and did not say much, both thinking, well.... what now?  After about 10 minutes it let up and eventually stopped.  Time to pack up and hit the trail.  It was a bit tough to get motivated, but once we got moving we would be fine- we hoped.

We hit the trail regardless of the extremely unsettled conditions.  The air did smell like fresh cool pine and clean as it could get.  After about 1 hr of hiking it started to rain, then the hail came.  And along with it bolts of lighting and a dumping of pea sized hail. Striking the ridges on all sides of us.  It was the loudest booms imaginable.  It shook us to the core.  Hunkering down in the middle of the trail there is really nothing you can do but wait it out.  It all suddenly made sense to me why ancient man equated this to angry Gods striking out.  Complete chaos.  15 min later it let up and we continued.  I did not think to much about abandoning the trip, we would not be heading into desolate high country till the following morning.  It could have been worse, we could have been the 10 person group that was up near the pass when it hit.  They had a close enough call to end the trip and head out asap.  We eventually passed through a very quaint meadow and up a bit and arrived at Miram lake.  Sam exclaimed, "my hands are freezing" Camp was set up and a fire soon followed.

 The following morning we woke up to blue skies.  There was still plenty of evidence around from yesterday's storm.  We headed along the lake then abruptly up towards Carper Pass. 

Sam thought she forgot her sunglass back at camp so I waited as she quickly went back to check.  Quickly.. because it was 9 am and clouds were already starting to form.  We needed to get up and over the ridge, to avoid being caught in another thunder storm. 

Taken from the top of Carper Pass looking down at Mirror Lake.  It was cold up on the ridge as a chilling wind sprung up.  We cruised on down to Mirror lake and had a relaxing lunch. Weather was still holding out.  We would eventually have lunch and pass over the pass left of where I am standing and descend down to Glacier Lake for the night.

Alongside Mirror lake with Eagle Cap peak above.  A wonderful lake, but very crowded.  Our book recommended staying here and day hiking up to Glacier Lake.  Nope we were going to camp there instead.  It did leave another 6 mi and another 1300 ft pass to cross to arrive.

  The view we got at the top of 8500 ft Glacier Pass was blew everything we had seen so far away.  An alpine playground extended into the horizon.  As we headed down to the lake the only people we saw on this side of the pass headed up and over to camp.  I could not believe it,  we were the only ones at this magnificent lake.  After scouring the area to find a good camp we eventually picked a spot low in a ravine just in case we would have to endure some more lighting.  It looked menacing for about a half hour, even rained a bit. Then it was gone as quick as it came and another fire was in order.

"The finest alpine spectacle in the Wallowas"  described very accurately by my guidebook.  In the book it was originally recommended as a day hike from the Lakes Basin, but as you can see it made for a wonderful camp.  Although their was not many good tent sites around the lake.

Its funny.  In places this overwhelmingly beautiful I often think, "Where is everyone?"  You would think in a world of 6.5 billion people lakes like this would be lined with fellow beings.  I guess the minor deterrent of carrying you home on your back for 3 days and 20 miles does the trick.  Fantastic. 

 TThe hike out was about 12 miles from Glacier Lake.  The only uphill was a 500 ft ascent back up to the top of Glacier pass.  The rest was all down hill and each day especially our last brought perfect weather.

One last look back at Eagle Cap peak. The valley back contained a massive meadow that we hiked on through, it was heating up quite a bit.  We stopped and had another snack break as LOTS (about 30) people were heading towards Mirror Lake for the weekend.  Most did not look like hikers and were struggling up the slope. The trail headed back into the forest and we followed the river down a few switchbacks.  Soon later we hit the junction to Mirim lake.  The trip looked real grim from the beginning, but never stopped improving and we enjoyed each step after the weather subsided.

MOVIE

                                                                  Go back to Homepage