Oregon Hikers

Go for it, Don... and I know you have some "short shorts" photos back in the archives, too..!

Tom

mayhem wrote:Yes! post some more old Hikes...I hope to feel the same way in another 20 years

my thoughts exactly!

Hi Splintercat, where is Polaris Pass in relation to your provided map?

Going to try and hit this loop in 2 weeks or at least a portion of it and really want
to see Polaris Pass from seeing your picture in this thread

Hey Eric,
It's the saddle just north of Sentinel Peak on my map, where I sketched in a bunch of long switchbacks dropping down the west side (and there are many more than I sketched, too). One of the coolest spots in the Wallowas, and if you're doing it in a day, you'll have great light up there -- mid-to-late morning is perfect timing, as the sun will be behind you, illuminating the high crest of the range.

Have fun -- and post a report, of course!

-Tom

Awesome, thank you much

I'll post, just hope there's no rain in a week and a half when we are camping... heh

Splintercat wrote:[RE: Polaris Pass] ...One of the coolest spots in the Wallowas, ...

I agree with that assessment! The view into the west part of the Wallowas is enthralling. It's also a perfect vantage point for comparing the white granite to the west with the darker geology to the east. I already want to go back.

Hi Tom--

I hope you're still checking this thread from time. I'm new to this forum, but I've been living and hiking around Portland for about 7 years now. I'm a little more "old school" than you, having graduated college in 1979. However, in 1979 I would say we were dressing (and wearing our hair) exactly like in your 1982 pictures! Your great description of the hike has inspired my college roomie and me. In three weeks he's coming from Massachusetts and we're going to duplicate your loop, more or less. We hope to fit in a side trip to Ice Lake to spend a night, and go up Matterhorn the next day. I've done the West Fork Trail to Six Mile Meadow with my wife before, and am looking forward to getting back over to that beautiful area.

A question: you call it a 3-day trip, but I take it from your description that it was 3 nights, the third night you camped at Moccasin Lake?

OK, to anybody else reading this enjoyable thread, I'll try to add an update and photos in a few weeks. Maybe it should be a new thread? And, although I'll do my own search, if anybody has been over there recently and can comment on current conditions---maybe especially the ford to get to Ice Lake---would love to hear it.

Cheers!

Greg

lol, I'm glad this thread got resurrected. This was a month before I was born! I loved seeing these photos. That last ones should be a Wheat Thins ad.

Splintercat wrote:Go for it, Don... and I know you have some "short shorts" photos back in the archives, too..!

Tom

Time for a "short shorts" thread? I got a couple from the same era that just horrified the kids! ("Dad, you'd get beat up dressing like that today...")

EP, it was cotton or wool only, except for "snow sports" back then!

Greg, that's cool! Looking forward to your trip report, too - I'd start a new thread for it, though, so people can find it. There's always a lot of interest in reports from the Wallowas.

Yes, I should have said 3 nights -- we actually spent the first night just below Tenderfoot Pass and the third night at Douglas Lake. BTW, this was also the infamous hike where I encountered a tall, bearded man crashing downslope toward Wallowas Lake with nothing but a pair of heavy loggers boots on, and carrying a rifle...

Tom