Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

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anne37
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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by anne37 » September 25th, 2014, 10:37 pm

What a great and unusual report with all those fall colors. I know what you mean about just staring at those rocks forever - they're fascinating out there. Glacier Pass is one of my favorite spots, and it's amazing how different the colors on your trip were! This really makes me excited about a couple more weeks of hiking, although the frog pile is going to make me go take a shower. :lol: Thanks for posting :)

Here's from our trip last year:

Image

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weathercrazy
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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by weathercrazy » September 26th, 2014, 6:16 am

I think this is one the best TR from that area and very much the best photos. Amazing beauty over there!

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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by greglief » September 26th, 2014, 6:22 am

Thank you very much for the report and photos. It is great to see one of my favorite places festooned in fall finery. Also, thank you very much for documenting the frogs. :D
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Bromus
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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by Bromus » September 26th, 2014, 9:26 am

I see you went down wallowa past ice lake. I heard there was a fire up there in august. Did you notice any of that?

-B

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RobinB
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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by RobinB » September 26th, 2014, 11:28 am

Wow! Thanks everyone :)
vibramhead wrote:How cold did it get at night?
I think it only got below freezing once or twice, but it was definitely hovering in the 30s most nights.
texasbb wrote:BTW, your pictures over Glacier Lake are not of Eagle Cap, but Glacier Peak. EC is to the right of that sawtooth ridge.
Oops, thanks for the correction! I'll edit the TR in a moment. There goes my revelation about the peak looking like an eagle...
Born2BBrad wrote:I'm really beginning to appreciate backpacking trips in mid-September. No bugs and far fewer people.
To me, mid-September is really the height of backpacking season. Maybe the weather's a little less reliable than August, but everything else is so much more pleasant.
Sean Thomas wrote:I think I already said this in one of your past tr's but you've been on some incredible trips this year, and its been awesome to watch :)
And this coming from the dude who's run across the entire gorge, the entirety of Indian Heaven, and who knows what else this year :) Thanks, Sean.
Bromus wrote:I see you went down wallowa past ice lake. I heard there was a fire up there in august. Did you notice any of that?
Are you talking about the West Fork Fire, by the turnoff for Ice Lake? It apparently started on Sept. 8th, and was more or less under control by September 15. They reopened the West Fork trail on the 16th, and the Ice Lake trail on the 23rd. The thing was only 135 acres, and only left a small-ish burn scar on the ridge west of the river. It was smokey, though.

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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by R11 » September 26th, 2014, 2:10 pm

RobinB wrote:After Polaris, Glacier Pass felt tiny. There was a use trail from the pass heading toward Eagle Cap. Anyone know if it goes all the way up?
Nice trip! I don't think there are any boot tracks all the way up/down between the lake and EC. From the top end there is a faint path taking off down the hill from the bottom of Eagle Cap's broad south ridge right where it begins to narrow before you get to the "saw tooth" section. From there it's easy to pick your way down to the lake if you're comfortable on scree/talus and a little rock-hopping. Here's a pic I posted before that I marked the general route I took the last time I was up there in Sept of '09. The bottom section was fairly steep scree so I just went down the little snow melt creek bed that feeds into Glacier since it has good size/stable rocks to climb down on:
EC to Glacier.jpg
The frog pics are funny because the only time I've ever seen large quantities of tiny little frogs like that was also in the Wallowas, as I was hiking along Frasier Lake on my way up to Glacier Lake on that same trip!


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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by AAdamsPDX » September 26th, 2014, 3:54 pm

This is a stunning TR, as others have said - both for the words and the beautiful pictures. You make me wish I could run out there right now! I think the husband and I have a date for next September in the Wallowas, as he got caught standing behind me while I was reading your report and couldn't tear himself away.

Thank you for sharing your trip!
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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by romann » September 26th, 2014, 11:11 pm

Fall colors and granite - it's just spectacular! Thanks for sharing.

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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by teperilloux » September 29th, 2014, 9:49 am

Spectacular photos.

Makes me wonder what my August trip "coulda been" if the weather had cooperated. We did the same exact loop and campsites.

The notable differences.... in no particular order.

Bugs in lake basin

35 degrees and sideways hail and rain with thunder and lightning at polaris. We had no choice but to get over and descend asap, definitely the sketchy factor on the first 5-10 switchbacks was 10 of 10 with accumulated half inch to inch of hail on the slippery rocks. Not to mention thunder and lightning with limited visibility... counting after the flashes never got any closer than 3 seconds, so that was comforting at least. My heart hasn't pounded that hard in a long time!

Breaking both hiking poles climbing the rocks later that day up to Frazier lake (never had that happen before). Luckily was able to field repair them with lots of duck tape.

Fog and 40 degrees (but no wind!) at Glacier Lake

Brilliant sunshine on our hike out day (don't you hate it when that happens?)

I will have to definitely get up there again someday now that I see how beautiful it is!! Great report

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Re: Wallowa River(s) / Lakes Basin Loop: Sept. 16-20, 2014

Post by RobinB » September 29th, 2014, 2:45 pm

teperilloux wrote:35 degrees and sideways hail and rain with thunder and lightning at polaris. We had no choice but to get over and descend asap, definitely the sketchy factor on the first 5-10 switchbacks was 10 of 10 with accumulated half inch to inch of hail on the slippery rocks. Not to mention thunder and lightning with limited visibility... counting after the flashes never got any closer than 3 seconds, so that was comforting at least. My heart hasn't pounded that hard in a long time!
Oh man! When we were up there, we talked a few times about how terrible it would be to descend in even vaguely inclement weather. Thunder and lightning would be terrifying!

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