Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

This is a forum for trip reports that pre-date the Portland Hikers forum, trail photos from pre-digital era, or any other discussions that focus on trail history.
User avatar
Splintercat
Posts: 8328
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Portland
Contact:

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by Splintercat » March 16th, 2011, 7:57 pm

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

Tom :lol:

User avatar
Crusak
Posts: 3617
Joined: August 6th, 2009, 7:33 pm
Location: Oregon

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by Crusak » March 16th, 2011, 8:05 pm

mayhem wrote:Yes! post some more old Hikes...I hope to feel the same way in another 20 years :)
my thoughts exactly!
Jim's Hikes

Solvitur Ambulando

User avatar
Eric Peterson
Posts: 4097
Joined: May 11th, 2009, 5:39 am
Location: Oregon
Contact:

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by Eric Peterson » August 15th, 2011, 8:08 pm

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 :)

User avatar
Splintercat
Posts: 8328
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Portland
Contact:

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by Splintercat » August 18th, 2011, 7:02 am

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 :)

User avatar
Eric Peterson
Posts: 4097
Joined: May 11th, 2009, 5:39 am
Location: Oregon
Contact:

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by Eric Peterson » August 18th, 2011, 7:08 am

Awesome, thank you much :)

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

User avatar
texasbb
Posts: 1174
Joined: July 26th, 2008, 8:16 pm
Location: Tri-Cities, WA

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by texasbb » August 18th, 2011, 7:19 pm

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.

Hoosier Hiker
Posts: 21
Joined: July 30th, 2012, 12:07 pm

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by Hoosier Hiker » July 30th, 2012, 12:24 pm

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

User avatar
hlee
Posts: 513
Joined: April 16th, 2012, 12:41 pm
Location: St. Helens, Oregon

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by hlee » July 30th, 2012, 5:53 pm

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.

Hannah

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot

User avatar
kepPNW
Posts: 6411
Joined: June 21st, 2012, 9:55 am
Location: Salmon Creek

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by kepPNW » August 1st, 2012, 5:55 am

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

Tom :lol:
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...") :lol:

EP, it was cotton or wool only, except for "snow sports" back then!
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

User avatar
Splintercat
Posts: 8328
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Portland
Contact:

Re: Old School: Wallowa Mountain Loop - September 1982

Post by Splintercat » August 2nd, 2012, 8:27 pm

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... :shock:

Tom :)

Post Reply