road, is Wallowa Lake State Park, a wonderful RV camping destination on the shores of Wallowa Lake. In addition to lakefront campsites at the state park, several private RV parks are tucked into this nook in the mountains. For hikers, there are hikes all through the Wallowa Mountains and Eagle Cap Wilderness, and one of our favorites was Hurricane Creek. This hike took us through meadows that were bursting with wildflowers and led us to the edge of a beautiful waterfall. After the hike, we stopped for a microbrew beer at a picnic table under towering shade trees at Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise, a local favorite. Eastern Oregon had given us many unusual delights already, but there was one more highlight ahead of us— Hells Canyon. This portion of the famous Snake River is America's deepest gorge, and it separates the states of Oregon and Idaho. There are some overlooks that peer toward the canyon from great heights on the Oregon side of
horizon sometimes revealed a band of Native Americans that wasn't keen on sharing their homeland with European interlopers. One Native American who worked tirelessly to make peace with the settlers and find a way for his people and the newcomers to coexist was Chief Joseph, an eloquent and wise leader whose well-reasoned requests and impassioned pleas to the U.S. government were ultimately met with deaf and traitorous ears. The sweet little village of Joseph is named for this remarkable leader. Sitting in a valley on the edge of the spectacular Wallowa Mountains, the town of just 1,000 people is adorned with beautiful bronze statues cast by the local foundry, Valley Bronze. Chief Joseph, Sacajawea, and other Native Americans and cowboys are immortalized in bronze on street corners around town— bigger than life size—with the snow-capped mountain peaks of the Wallowas as a natural backdrop. Joseph lies at the end of a dead end road, making it a seldom visited destination. However, there’s lots to do. Take a ride on the unique tandem bicycle railcars that ride on the narrow gauge railroad tracks between Joseph and Enterprise with Joseph Branch Railriders, or take a ride in a gondola up to the top of Mt. Howard for lunch on a deck at the Summit Restaurant overlooking the stunning 9,000-foot peaks in the Wallowa mountain range. Just a few miles south of Joseph, at the very end of a dead end
Streams run cool and blue in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of the Wallowa Mountains.
the river, and these can be reached by a winding road from Joseph. However, to get into the gorge and see it up close from water level, we needed to loop around from Joseph back through Baker City to the tiny hamlet of Halfway, and then cross the border into Idaho at the river community of Copperfield, Idaho. Following the road that crawls along the edge of the Snake River in Hells Canyon, we craned our necks as we looked up at the rocky peaks high above us. The water is a rich aquamarine and there wasn't a soul on the road with us. We spotted deer drinking down at the river's edge while we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the tailgate of our truck. Our brief tour through Eastern Oregon was an inviting sampler of all there is to see and do on the quiet side of this beautiful state. Without a doubt, we’ll be back for more!
COAST TO COAST SUMMER 2016 13
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