“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
6 People / 6 Days / 43.5 Miles
Day 1: The Beginning….
We got a late start to our trip. We stayed the night in La Grande at a hotel, and had planned to set off hiking in the late morning. We stopped for huckleberry ice cream in Bates, Oregon. That was a welcomed treat.
As we traveled toward the trail head, the road was closed due to flood damage. We ended up taking “roller coaster” back roads to get around the damage. We saw some interesting sites on the way, including Lily White Cabin, and a few wayward cows. We parked in the second parking lot, which is right at the trail head. It was right around 80 degrees, but finally, we were ready to start our hike (around 2:45pm).
Wallowas Trail Head
It took us a while to fine the “trail,” which was not a trail at all. It seemed as though we were just following a deer trail. We kept losing it, and then picking it back up again. After about one mile, Cory (husband) scouted the area, and discovered that we were not very far from the real trail at all – It was just closer to the creel. Hiking went a little more smoothly after that. Since we had not had nap time, Keenan (3 y/o) wanted to set a slow pace. However, Rhys (6 y/o) was a great at leading he group, and Taylor (17 y/o) and Ellie (14 y/o) had great attitudes.
We hiked to Curtis Creek, and filtered some water. We decided it was a great place to eat dinner. While dinner was cooking, Keenan was stung on the ear by a bee. Then, while Ellie was mixing her dinner (Greens & Reds) she dropped the bowl, and it splashed hot potatoes on Keenan’s face. Only 2.5 miles into the trip, and Keenan was already getting beaten up. However, he handled it all well.
It was an unrestful night. Our idea of having four people (Jenni/Me, Cory, Rhys, and Keenan) share a two-person backpacking tent was not our brightest moment. We started with Jenni and Rhys zipped together in a sleeping bag, and Cory and Keenan in another. When we finally decided to unzip the sleeping bags, and just use them as blankets, things were much more comfortable. Regardless, the adults still woke up every 1 – 1.5 hours.
Day Mileage: 3.0 miles / Trip Mileage: 3.0 miles
Day 2:
Cory and Taylor woke early, and went for an early morning excursion. When Jenni got out of the tent, they had climbed across the river and up the other side. Keenan woke up then, and informed us that, “Bears must be nocturnal, because we didn’t see any during the day.” It then began to rain on us, so we quickly tore down camp and were ready to start seeking cover. However, then the rain abruptly stopped, and we decided to eat breakfast before moving on. We ate cous cous with cinnamon, milk, and raspberries. It was a great hot breakfast.
Along the hike, Rhys looked up and thought he saw snow. We were doubtful, but a few of us went exploring for a verdict. It was, in fact, SNOW!
Everyone was in a great spirits for the hike. Frequent snack breaks were always welcomed. Our speed was slow-going at first. We ended up stopping every 1/2 mile for someone. It just seemed like we could not get on the same schedule. Also, there was a lot of smoke in the air from a nearby forest fire, which made it hard to breathe.
Along our hike, Taylor and Ellie found a great place down by the creek for our first siesta! Everyone enjoyed playing in the creek and resting for the afternoon. We ate Chapala’s Black Bean Soup and drank lemonade.
We finished our afternoon by hiking to the turn-off toward Moon Lake, crossed the creek, set up camp, and ate a quick snack of Shortbread Biscuits with peanut butter and honey. After a couple of personalized bedtime stories by Ellie, we retied for the night.
Day Mileage: 4.39 miles / Trip Mileage: 7.39 miles
Day 3:
It was an early morning start, and we ate oatmeal for breakfast. We packed up all of our packs, left them at camp, and headed off to Moon Lake. Cory stayed behind to finish packing up everything, and Ellie entertained Keenan and Rhys with stories during the hike.
Moon Lake was pretty. The kids all waded in the water. Cory caught up to us, and we continued the hike toward hidden lake.
However, we took a slightly wrong turn somewhere along the way, and ended up in The Shire. Sometimes wrong turns are the best way to travel. It was so beautiful, and the pictures don’t do it justice. Keenan enjoyed jumping across the babbling brook, over and over again.
Hidden Lake was serene and peaceful. We decided it would make a great location for out Hogwarts School that we will someday build.
We siesta’d back at the campsite again, and ate Lasagna for our main meal. After a nap, we started hiking toward Horton’s Pass. Somewhere along the way,we took a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the creek. This would be the same creek that Rhys fell into and soaked himself from head to toe. So, we warmed Rhys up, set up camp for the night, and would scout things our in the morning when it was warmer and lighter.
Day Mileage: 5.71 miles / Trip Mileage: 13.1 miles
Day 4:
Bright and early, Cory scouted the trails and discovered where we had gone wrong the night before. It was only about a mile back, but we could have avoided Rhys falling in the creek if we would have seen the right path at the right time. Breakfast was Grapenuts with milk and strawberries, and then we began a trail-cutting trek across the creek and up and down the ravine to locate our trail once again.
The climb up Horton’s Pass was grueling…..But the views at the top were well worth it!
View of Eagle Cap Summit (From Horton’s Pass)
The hike past Upper Lake and to Mirror Lake was beautiful as well.
We took a siesta at Mirror Lake and enjoyed bean burritos with tortillas. The trail was a lot more busy around the Lake Basin area, but the views made up for it.
Then we hiked to Moccasin Lake, crossed it, and headed up toward Glacier Pass. Two passes in one day – Ambitious!
The hike up Glacier Pass was beautiful, but after two passes in one day, we were all very tired. We hiked down to Glacier Lake, and set up camp for our coldest night yet. We tried to be more comfortable by having Cory and Rhys sleep outside, but that only lasted a few hours before they came back in to the tent. Ellie and Taylor managed to stay warm in their bivy sacks, but were glad to get moving in the morning.
Day Mileage: 7.7 miles / Trip Mileage: 20.8 miles
Day 5:
In the morning, we had Cranberry-Pistachio Rice Pudding for breakfast – Yummy!!! A little chipmunk during the night had tried to steal a little of our food, but only made off with a few freeze-dried raspberries. Glacier Lake became more and more gorgeous as the sun came up. The views were breathtaking!
Taylor and Ellie kept Rhys and Keenan entertained all day with stories and playing “Honey I Love You…” We hiked past Frazier Lake, and Little Frazier Lake, and then continued up Hawkins Pass.
For dinner, Taylor had Sesame Orange Chicken, and the rest of us had Artichoke-Zucchini Alfredo and Rice. We ate by the creek, and continued hiking for a few more miles.
The end of the hike that day was so tiring, Rhys and Keenan almost fell asleep on the trail and did fall asleep on each other while we were setting up camp.
Day Mileage: 9.7 miles / Trip Mileage: 30.5 miles
Day 6:
Cory woke us up early for Hot Cocoa for breakfast. Rhys and Keenan also ate Muesli Mix with milk, but the rest of us only wanted drinks. The kids blew “smoke” rings with their hot breath. Then, we went down to the Imnaha River to filter water, and to cross it for the rest of our hike.
All of the kids kept excellent attitudes during the hike. Rhys often was the lead, and Keenan held on tight to the “Magic Rope” that Cory held. Taylor and Ellie took turns telling stories to the younger kids, and had the chance to show off their excellent imaginations!
We found an excellent surprise when we came across a man-made waterfall!
We finally made it to the “other” Crater Lake. The kids enjoyed playing in the clay/mud and relaxing, and we enjoyed a meal of Backpack Bruchetta with Melba Toasts.
We knew we either had to camp at Crater Lake or finish the last 7 miles to make it back to the truck. We decided to finish our journey that day. Rhys and Keenan were worn out, and Rhys had chaffing on his legs from his pants. It was a long hike down hill, with lots of switch backs, but we finally made it!
The trail head sign elated all of us. However, it turned out that the trail let us out at the first parking lot, and that we were about one mile past our truck. Cory ran ahead for us, and brought the truck back to us. It was a bittersweet ending of wanting to continue the adventures, yet wanting to sleep in a bed at the same time. I couldn’t have asked for a better time!
These are the days memories are made of.
Day Mileage: 13.0 miles / Total Trip Mileage: 43.5 miles