Lookingglass-Bear Lakes; Cached Lake Loop (Wallowas) 7-26-21 – 7-29-21

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bobcat
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Lookingglass-Bear Lakes; Cached Lake Loop (Wallowas) 7-26-21 – 7-29-21

Post by bobcat » August 2nd, 2021, 9:09 am

It’s been a few years since I’ve been out to the Wallowas and I almost turned back when getting off the freeway at La Grande. The fire pall was so dense that I could barely see the mountains. However, I decided I would play it day by day, and took FR 67 from Medical Springs, a good gravel road, which connected me to FR 77 and the trailhead.

I hiked up the Eagle Trail for what was to be my first camp at Eagle Creek Meadow. It was a Monday afternoon, and all the weekenders were coming out, including a large group with three rental llamas (they lauded the beasts’ equanimity and trail savvy). The bridge that was out over Eagle Creek for years has been replaced by a daintier stand-in, and all junctions are now signposted. I actually set up on the edge of the deserted meadow at the single site at the Lookingglass Lake Trail crossing of the creek.

Eagle Cap Wilderness boundary, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Waterfall on Eagle Creek, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Looking back at the replacement bridge, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Common paintbrush (Castilleja miniata), Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
All of Copper Creek Falls, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Alpine dustymaiden (Chaenactis douglasii var. alpina), Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Looking down to Eagle Meadow, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Campsite, Eagle Meadow, Wallowas.jpg

The next day, the fire haze had lifted slightly, and I went up to visit the lakes in the cirques above. I have fond memories of Lookingglass Lake as sparkling crystal clear in a panorama of granite and small treed islands, but this time the hike there, passing lush alpine meadows, boulder moraines, and a viewpoint to the tall waterfall that drops from the lake, was more prepossessing than the lake itself. It is one of those southern Wallowa reservoirs, dammed to raise levels and keep water flowing down the creeks to irrigation ditches in the valleys below throughout the summer (you pass one of these ditches coming in on FR 67). With water levels down and an ugly bathtub ring, at present you have cross a mudflat to get to the water.

Wing-fruited mariposa lily (Calochortus eurycarpus), Lookingglass Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Onion and arnica meadow, Lookingglass Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Hydaspe fritillary (Speyeria hydaspe), Lookingglass Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Along a moraine, Lookingglass Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Looking over Lookingglass Lake, Wallowas.jpg
At the dam, Lookingglass Lake, Wallowas.jpg

Then I went in the other direction, first visiting natural Culver Lake (where a party was camped) with its lush swamp and impressive cirque, and then Bear Lake, which was quiet and deserted, with a few trout plopping about.

Culver Lake, Bear Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Needle Point from the Bear Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Shore of Bear Lake, Bear Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg

The plan had been to pack up camp and move ahead, probably to Cached Lake. However, it was hot and muggy at noon, still with a fire pall, and I was inexplicably drained of energy, so I did something I rarely do on a backpack – just chilled out for the rest of the day. I took a nap, read half of a novel, bathed in a nice little pool in the creek, and strolled around the deserted meadow. A lone buck patrolled the edges of his kingdom in the mornings and evenings; dippers flitted and dove in the creek, and a trio of spotted sandpipers hopped around on the cobbles, bobbing their tails and plucking up insect morsels. The mosquitoes were a laconic lot, always settling and fiddling and fussing about, and therefore becoming black jam before proper employment of the proboscis. (Perhaps they were a recent hatch and thus callow and inexperienced.)

Up the Eagle Creek valley, Eagle Meadow, Wallowas.jpg
Afternoon read, Eagle Meadow, Wallowas.jpg

After a quiet night, I headed off on “the loop”, now as a 14-mile day hike. The first stop was Eagle Lake, also devoid of human presence and another incongruent impoundment, but with views down the valley from the lip of the cirque. (Views were better, with a breeze lifting much of the smoke although occasionally I would smell the fires.) Then I stopped briefly at little Cached Lake, with its boggy green meadows. It was above Cached Lake that I met a group of three who had camped at Arrow Lake overnight and were now headed for Eagle Lake.

Western coneflower (Rudbeckia occidentalis), Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Ramparts above the Eagle Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Needle Point from the Eagle Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Whitebark pine, Eagle Lake Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Dam wall at Eagle Lake, Wallowas.jpg
View over Eagle Lake, Wallowas.jpg
Cached Lake, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg

In my revision of my plans, my lazy afternoon down at the meadow had meant ditching a scramble up Needle Point, which dominates the whole region, or making an excursion along the abandoned Pop Lake Trail. So be it: just doing this loop was a fine entertainment in and of itself. I passed through the “Moonscape”, where a layer of Columbia River Basalts meets the much older granite intrusions. At the high pass, I met another hiker, who had camped at Heart Lake (“good fishing”).

Glacial striations, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Needle Point from above Cached Lake, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Looking down on Cached Lake, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Nuttall's linanthus (Linanthus nuttallii), Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Oval-leafed buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium), Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Columns and Needle Point, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Mountain balm (Monardella odoratissima), Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
At the Moonscape, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Whitebark pines and Needle Point, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg

Dropping into the Trail Creek drainage, there were views down the classic Minam River valley, with Glacier Mountain and Brown Mountain on the ridge above. China Cap, with its basalt colonnade, jutted up to the northwest. Numerous gushing streams meant water was never a problem, and I soon got to the post that marked the upper end of the Bench Canyon Trail.

View to the Minam River valley, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Looking to China Cap, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Looking back to Needle Point, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Junction with Bench Canyon Trail, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg

There was a short steep rise and then a meander through high meadows to another pass, from which views extended over the Eagle Creek valley to a trio of southern peaks: Krag Peak, Granite Mountain, and Red Mountain. I passed murky Arrow Lake and then took the quarter-mile offshoot to Heart Lake, a more secluded place to camp and a nicer lake but without the views of Arrow Lake. Then it was a steep slog down the “unmaintained” Bench Canyon Trail. It was again hot and muggy and the sun had beaten down on this slope all day. After a luxuriant knotweed meadow, the trail burrows through alder and willow thickets at a series of springs to reach dry slopes of sagebrush and then Douglas-fir woodland – what a series of microhabitats! Eventually, after carefully placing each footstep with care on the rubbly track, I reached the Eagle Creek Trail and hiked the 1 ½ miles back to camp

The junction meadow, Bench Canyon Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Explorer's gentian (Gentiana calycosa), Bench Canyon Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Onion meadow and Culver Lake, Bench Canyon Trail, Wallowas.jpg
View to Red Mountain and Culver Lake, Bench Canyon Trail, Wallowas.jpg
View over Heart Lake, Wallowas.jpg
Eagle Creek valley, Bench Canyon Trail, Wallowas.jpg
Bench Canyon Trail junction, Eagle Creek Trail, Wallowas.jpg

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Bosterson
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Re: Lookingglass-Bear Lakes; Cached Lake Loop (Wallowas) 7-26-21 – 7-29-21

Post by Bosterson » August 2nd, 2021, 11:48 am

Nice trip, John. Eagle Cap is a nice place to not be in a rush. Bummer about the smoke haze. I've meant to go back to Main Eagle to side trip up to Lookingglass Lake, sad to see how low the water is! If you ever get out there again, Needle Point is a pretty fun little side trip scramble along the west ridge from Cached.
bobcat wrote:
August 2nd, 2021, 9:09 am
The mosquitoes were a laconic lot, always settling and fiddling and fussing about, and therefore becoming black jam before proper employment of the proboscis.
:lol:
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased

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BurnsideBob
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Re: Lookingglass-Bear Lakes; Cached Lake Loop (Wallowas) 7-26-21 – 7-29-21

Post by BurnsideBob » August 2nd, 2021, 7:56 pm

Thanks for sharing. Your trip sure gave me a hankering to get back there. My wife saw me perusing your photos and allowed her knee might just let her get in one more Wallowa trip.

Look familiar?
IMG_3056.JPG

If you visit again, there is a really nice improved campsite at the north end of Main Eagle Meadow. In big trees, so good for those who like to sleep in!!

You mentioned that the Bench Canyon trail had poor footing on your descent. Was there much deadfall? And would the trail footing be better if you went up, rather than down. Yep, scheming on a loop trip.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Burnside
I keep making protein shakes but they always turn out like margaritas.

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bobcat
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Re: Lookingglass-Bear Lakes; Cached Lake Loop (Wallowas) 7-26-21 – 7-29-21

Post by bobcat » August 3rd, 2021, 7:41 am

BurnsideBob wrote:
August 2nd, 2021, 7:56 pm
there is a really nice improved campsite at the north end of Main Eagle Meadow.
I scoped out the sites at the north end of the meadow on the second day, but I decided not to move. On those hot afternoons, I had become too attached to the bathing pool below my camp! Plus, I had slaughtered most of the mosquitoes there and didn't want to begin again with a different bunch.
BurnsideBob wrote:
August 2nd, 2021, 7:56 pm
You mentioned that the Bench Canyon trail had poor footing on your descent.
It was better than I thought it would be (Sullivan calls it a "bobsled run"), but I didn't have a full pack. Just needed to be careful and I used one pole for balance. Most people drive up in the afternoon and tackle the trail in the heat of the day. They suffer considerably as a result, more from the blazing sun than the tread. It's an east face, so the sun hits it early.

Can't remember any deadfall on the Bench Canyon Trail (hardly any trees, for a start). Just very brushy in one area. There was a minor amount of deadfall on Main Eagle, but easy workarounds.

Thanks for your TR on the area, as well as those from Bosterson, dixhuit, and justpeachy!

FYI, Wallowas were just put under an air quality advisory. Not a good time to go there right now.

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llamero
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Re: Lookingglass-Bear Lakes; Cached Lake Loop (Wallowas) 7-26-21 – 7-29-21

Post by llamero » August 3rd, 2021, 6:00 pm

Did I hear someone say llamas?

Thanks for the trip report Bobcat. My llamas and I camped at Bear Lake 10 years ago and almost every year since I've thought about doing the loop to Cache Lake and back down the Bench Canyon trail, but I never have and likely never will on my current set of knees. It was very pleasing to read your account. Thanks.

The winter of 2010-2011 was apparently a heavy snow season. I camped there September 21-23, 2011 and as you might be able to tell from the pictures there is significant avalanche snow at the inlet end of the lake. Judging by the direction of broken tree tops they came down both slopes.
Bear Lake 073.jpg
Bear Lake 043.jpg
When I crossed the Eagle Creek bridge it wasn't as serviceable as it looked, but the water was deep and fast so I hustled the llamas over one at a time. I lost a nice fixed blade Buck knife in the vicinity crawling through the brush looking for a place to ford.
Bear Lake 015.jpg
Thanks again for the report. May you have many more opportunities.

justpeachy
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Re: Lookingglass-Bear Lakes; Cached Lake Loop (Wallowas) 7-26-21 – 7-29-21

Post by justpeachy » August 7th, 2021, 5:50 am

Great report! We were supposed to be backpacking on the north side of the Eagle Cap Wilderness during that exact timeframe, but we have a very low tolerance for hiking in hazy conditions and ended up going to the Olympic Mountains instead.

wnshall
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Joined: July 17th, 2009, 10:31 am

Re: Lookingglass-Bear Lakes; Cached Lake Loop (Wallowas) 7-26-21 – 7-29-21

Post by wnshall » August 9th, 2021, 9:36 am

Thanks for the entertaining TR. All these Wallowas TRs have me itching to get out there. In the meantime, I'll live vicariously ...

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