Above the Smoke to Echo Lake, Eagle Cap Aug 5-6 2017
Posted: August 8th, 2017, 9:48 pm
I headed to the Wallowas last weekend to get a short backpack in. I camped the night before at Hurricane Creek Campground and then headed up the trail the next morning. Last time I was there was 9 years ago when I was 12, so I was interested to see if I remembered anything. Turns out I didn't recognize much.
Here is a photo from the original trip:
https://flic.kr/p/XhEVDd
The smog had been pretty bad on Friday, and I wasn't sure if it was the canyon or if it was worse, but it was pretty bad when I began hiking.
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I stopped to check out Falls Creek Falls and then headed up Hurricane Creek. It is a great trail, not too dusty, rough, wide, or steep as can be the case in Eagle Cap. Lots of mountains to look at and you can often see the rushing creek down below.
The Falls:
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Hurricane Creek runs through a narrow gorge at one point which was pretty cool.
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I initially missed the Echo Lake Trail, the sign is missing. I was planning on checking out the view from the Hurricane Creek Ford anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. The trail at the turnoff is super faint, so really easy to miss, with only a rock cairn to mark the spot on the edge of a meadow. Once I headed up the trail a little ways it was obvious it was the right one because it had been maintained with all the trees cut out. Boy that trail was a doozy. Literally straight up the mountain. I don't take many breaks when hiking and I took a few on this trail. 1700 feet of gain in 1.9 miles!
Then you enter a gorgeous wildflower meadow with a glassy stream. This set of pictures is from the way down.
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The air was much better up top:
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And then another mile of climbing to the lake:
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Campsite:
IMG_1849
And the next day I headed back to the trailhead. A little less smoky but the rocky, steep Echo Lake trail was even worse going down!
A few mosquitoes came out for dusk at Echo Lake, but not bad. No trees across the trails!
Here is a photo from the original trip:
https://flic.kr/p/XhEVDd
The smog had been pretty bad on Friday, and I wasn't sure if it was the canyon or if it was worse, but it was pretty bad when I began hiking.
IMG_1811
IMG_1812
I stopped to check out Falls Creek Falls and then headed up Hurricane Creek. It is a great trail, not too dusty, rough, wide, or steep as can be the case in Eagle Cap. Lots of mountains to look at and you can often see the rushing creek down below.
The Falls:
IMG_1814
IMG_1817
IMG_1819
IMG_1827
Hurricane Creek runs through a narrow gorge at one point which was pretty cool.
IMG_1829
IMG_1838
I initially missed the Echo Lake Trail, the sign is missing. I was planning on checking out the view from the Hurricane Creek Ford anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. The trail at the turnoff is super faint, so really easy to miss, with only a rock cairn to mark the spot on the edge of a meadow. Once I headed up the trail a little ways it was obvious it was the right one because it had been maintained with all the trees cut out. Boy that trail was a doozy. Literally straight up the mountain. I don't take many breaks when hiking and I took a few on this trail. 1700 feet of gain in 1.9 miles!
Then you enter a gorgeous wildflower meadow with a glassy stream. This set of pictures is from the way down.
IMG_1853
IMG_1857
IMG_1859
IMG_1860
The air was much better up top:
IMG_1843
And then another mile of climbing to the lake:
IMG_1844
IMG_1846
Campsite:
IMG_1849
And the next day I headed back to the trailhead. A little less smoky but the rocky, steep Echo Lake trail was even worse going down!
A few mosquitoes came out for dusk at Echo Lake, but not bad. No trees across the trails!