Annual Backpacking Trip

Summer has been fun, even with getting the house ready to sell, getting ready to move, having to buy a second vehicle.  We managed to get to the coast for a few days and visited friends and family.  I also took a week long graduate class designed to help teachers bring agriculture into the classroom.  The home location for that was in Cove, Oregon and it was a great week filled with new experiences.  And since I was already further into Eastern Oregon than where we currently live, my family and I decided to go a bit further into Eastern Oregon and go backpacking around where Kim and I went on our first backpacking trip together 11 years ago.  For the past 4 years or so, ever since our youngest was 1 or 2, we've gone backpacking with my parents and some combination of my sister's family. This year our schedules couldn't ever match up and we missed them.  We went to an area called Indian Crossing and hiked a couple miles along the Imnaha River to Blue Hole.  It was only disappointing because we thought it was a swimming hole.  It's actually a fishing hole.  Even though it was deep and leveled off, the river still moved swiftly through this part because it was compressed by walls of rock. We didn't starve because we had a nice meaty sandwich at the Joseph Saturday market for a late lunch before driving to the trail head.  Thankfully we had plenty of food that didn't need cooking ... I left the fuel bottle in the van.  Since we didn't have any definitive plans for anything on this trip we hiked back to the van the next morning.  After driving up to the Hells Canyon Lookout and taking in the immense rugged view (deepest gorge in North America) we took Imnaha River Road (gravel, but well maintained) for about an hour and a half to Imnaha.  Kim and I have fond memories of the Imnaha Tavern/General Store.  That is an entertaining place.  Kim and I weren't nearly as impressed as we were last time ... but, before our last visit we had hiked about 70 miles in 7 days along the High Bench Trail from Freeze Out Saddle to Dug Bar with some good friends.  At times I wonder how we made it, but we did, and that tavern/general store had the best hamburgers and Henry Weinhard's root beer on tap in the world! This time was good, but not that good.  Our tummies were full so we decided to check out Wallowa Lake.  Luckily, there were some campsites open and we snagged one before they were all taken.  That place was swarming with people.  Aside from that it was beautiful.  The whole weekend was beautiful because we were with each other in the outdoors, except when we kicked kids out of the car for gross misbehavior and neglecting the count to 3 ... that fresh air along the road really worked.  :-)

 

 Indian Crossing Trailhead

 just below Blue Hole

 camping at Blue Hole

 Cedar's inchworm pet

 Cedar crossing log bridges along trail

enjoying "a few drinks" at the Imnaha Tavern/General Store