Z and I just enjoyed a six-day road trip to the northeastern corner of our state. We spent most of our time in and around one of its coolest mountain ranges, the Wallowas, or “Oregon’s Little Switzerland.” We took the West’s longest tramway to the top of Mt. Howard to walk the viewpoint trails. There we saw a lot of ground squirrels busy eating up for the coming colder weather.
We hiked along the West Fork of the Wallowa River, an entrance to the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Two other excellent events in the area were a 20-mile pedal-powered ride in little rail carts on a railway next to the river and a sighting of a black bear casually (and safely, happy to say) crossing Hwy 82 about 150 feet ahead of us.
Having taken the most direct route to the Wallowas, we decided to return home by way of back roads, small towns, and a few more adventures. We visited the ghost town of Richmond (less ghostly than some) and finished up with a visit to a place we last saw years ago: the Painted Hills, part of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The visit was a too-timely reminder of the need to protect our monuments and other public lands.
