Two Nighter in the Wallowas?

Trip recommendations, current conditions, and other trail related Q&A
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teddyboy
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Joined: August 24th, 2021, 6:49 am

Two Nighter in the Wallowas?

Post by teddyboy » August 24th, 2021, 6:54 am

Planning a two night trip this weekend in the Wallowas and I could use some advice. We are reasonably fit and want to visit a bunch of lakes. We are intending to enter at either Wallowa Lake trailhead or Hurricane Creek Trailhead and are looking for a loop or lollipop hike. Maybe 8 - 10 miles per day over three days.

Looks like Glacier Lake may be a bit beyond our reach. What route do you recommend?

leiavoia
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Re: Two Nighter in the Wallowas?

Post by leiavoia » August 24th, 2021, 7:07 am

You could do Aneroid and Frazier lakes and maybe extend to Glacier but it would be a very long day 2. Keeping it simpler you could do Ice Lake and Horseshoe in either order. If you wanted to stay just on the East side you could camp at Aneroid or Jewett and spend a day exploring the peaks around there. The landscape in that area is wide open for exploration. You could day hike Petes Point or Aneroid Mountain or explore the highlands or valleys just beyond Aneroid Lake.

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texasbb
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Re: Two Nighter in the Wallowas?

Post by texasbb » August 24th, 2021, 10:57 am

I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend at each lake, but I don't think Glacier is out of reach. I've done a two-night trip up the West Fork Wallow to Horseshoe (night one), then past Lee, Douglas, and Moccasin on the way over Glacier Pass to Glacier and Frazier (night two), then out the West Fork Wallow River. That last day is maybe 10 miles, but it's all a moderate downhill.

Or if you're really wanting a lake-bagging trip, you could start at the Two Pan Trailhead, go up the East Fork Lostine River, spend two nights in the Lakes Basin, and come out via the West Fork Lostine. It would be fairly easy to hit Mirror, Moccasin, Sunshine, Crescent, Douglas, Lee, Horseshoe, Unit, Upper, and Minam Lakes. Day 2 would be your main lake-bagging day. Day 3 would be about 9 miles total, starting with a climb over 1000-ft Ivan Carper Pass, then an easy 6 miles out the West Fork Lostine. I've done that one in two nights, hitting all but Unit Lake, but I did bag Eagle Cap.

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IdahoNative
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Re: Two Nighter in the Wallowas?

Post by IdahoNative » August 24th, 2021, 11:45 am

I've never started from the Wallowa Lake trailhead but just FYI you'll hike 10 miles on the Hurricane Creek trail just to get to the Lakes Basin. The first big lake you'll encounter is Mirror Lake about 2 miles further.

It starts getting interesting around mile 5, but the first 5 miles are a real slog. I don't see myself enjoying that trail again. It is great for solitude in between miles 3 and 10 though.

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teachpdx
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Location: Hillsboro, OR

Re: Two Nighter in the Wallowas?

Post by teachpdx » August 24th, 2021, 4:38 pm

You could go to the other side and do a loop from the Main Eagle TH, hitting Lookingglass, Bear, Eagle, Cached, Arrow, and Heart Lakes. It'll be much less packed than the main Lakes Basin, but the trails are also much less maintained.

I'm also hesitant to recommend off-trail to folks when I am unsure of their abilities, but if you are familiar with it, it's possible to connect from the Lakes Basin to Ice Lake without going back down into the Wallowa drainage. It would help in creating a loop and keeping the miles down. And that route passes a 'bonus' lake, Razz Lake, which is pretty cool and almost always deserted. There's a beta for the route here, and as always Google is your friend.

Maybe an itinerary using that would be:
Day 1: Wallowa Lake TH - Moccasin Lake (passing Horseshoe and Douglas Lakes).
Day 2: Moccasin Lake - Glacier Lake and back before packing camp, then Moccasin Lake - Razz Lake via Mirror Lake.
Day 3: If the off-trail looks too intimidating, go from Razz back to Wallowa Lake. If you are feeling it, Razz Lake over the ridge to Ice Lake, and then down to the Wallowa Lake TH.
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