Backpacking Eastern Oregon

For Andrew's birthday, we decided to take a few days off and go backpacking! Our initial plan was to hike about thirty miles of the Olympic Peninsula's coastline. Unfortunately the tide table was against us, so we ended up heading east, out past La Grande, to backpack in Eagle Cap wilderness!

The weather for the drive was nice, and allowed for many beautiful views.

Rachel was excited to show us around the town she went to college in; including her old house and some favorite restaurants. After a few hours in town, we drove out to the trail head.

Along the way we saw several animals, including a doe and her two young fawns. They were in no hurry to run away!

Once we arrived, we registered and set out for our destination - 6.5 miles the first day. No problem!

Unfortunately the trails weren't very well marked, and a three mile ascent to start off with slowed us down a bit. We ended up doing about 3.5 miles of our first day in complete darkness. When we arrived to our destination for the night, we quickly set up camp and got cozy!

Everything froze overnight, which wasn't on the weather report. So Andrew got up early and built a nice fire.

We got warm, then explored the beautiful area we were in.

Rachel hadn't been feeling well, and our lack of preparedness for totally freezing conditions resulted in us turning back from our intended route. However, the trek out was a beautiful and rewarding one. The granite peaks, curving streams, and beautiful meadows of this pristine wilderness is indescribable.

Once reaching our truck, we decided to head into town for a warm meal. We ended up staying the night in the Minam Motel, which is all that there is in the town of Minam. It was a perfect fishing destination!

We caught several small fish, and ended the night with a descent trout to take home.

The following day we headed to La Grande for breakfast, then out to Thief Valley Reservoir. We headed below the dam, and the fishing commenced.

There was no one for miles, and we enjoyed a very active day. Lots of fish caught, grilled trout for lunch (Andrew even brought seasoning and lemon), beautiful scenery, and lots of sunshine! It was a perfect day.

That night we stayed in La Grande. We spent the following day shopping at farm supply stores, restocking our first aid kit, getting vaccines for our animals, and ultimately driving back to Portland a day earlier than planned.

On the way home we spotted some Big Horn Sheep, but couldn't get pictures because we were on the freeway. We ended up stopping at Bonneville Dam to watch the fish in the fish ladders. The salmon were running, so there were tons to see.

Afterward, we walked down to the mouth of Tanner Creek, just below the dam, and were amazed at the huge numbers of fish! The creek was thick with salmon, and there were several very large sturgeon in the mix. We assumed they were waiting for a bounty of eggs, and dead salmon to feast on. One was about eight feet long, and a good 16 inches wide. They were everywhere!

Since we made it home a day early, we decided to be lazy and sleep in. Andrew made breakfast in bed, and we pretty much laid around all day. It was a great end to a great trip!