Off the Bench: Backpacking the Willowas
My sister and I have been backpacking together for several years now and like planning routes through small, obscure mountain ranges. After trips through The Steens in SE Oregon in 2021 and The Trinities in Northern California in 2023, we landed on the Wallowas in NE Oregon for this year’s trip. Our routes typically combine trailed miles and off-trail miles with several options and bail-out points since we never know if a route will actually “go” until we get eyes on the terrain.
Day 1 - First Camp
We arrived at the trailhead at 7pm on a Tuesday and squeeked out a quick, relatively flat 2 miles to our first camp along Hurricane Creek. My pack was slightly heavier than I like (starting the trip at just shy of 25lbs for what we thought would be a 4 night trip) so I was happy to eat through some of my food that first evening as I prefer my max packweight to be around 23lbs. My sister and I usually split food responsibilities for our trips together so she was in charge of our lunches and I was in charge of our dinners; snacks and breakfasts are up to each person.
Day 2 - Ascending
We broke camp early the next morning and set out for what ended up being our biggest day of ascending. We hiked through a steep burn zone in absolute awe of the high ridges around us and spent time identifying wild flowers and smelling the surviving ponderosa pines as we gained elevation. The burned forest transitioned into a stunning alpine meadow where we were finally able to see the high point of our day towering above us. As I looked up, I felt a little worried about how my legs would handle that much ascent as I spend much of my summers mountain biking and not hiking. This was quite a trip to do off the bench having not hiked since last Fall but my legs felt strong (thanks Ibex Project MTB workouts!) as I reminded myself that my body can do hard things.
We rounded a sharp turn in the boot path and Sacajawea Peak and the subsequent ridge traverse came into view. So much up through a vast moonscape and millions of butterflies is how we spent the next almost 2 hours until we reached the top at 9843’ and stopped for lunch. Proper fueling for big back-to-back mountain days is key and we enjoyed a meal of bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, and cherry tomatoes with 360º views of the Wallowas.
Next up: a spicy ridge traverse we named “The Spine.” This class 3 traverse in a no-fall zone meant plenty of careful steps and lots of concentration as we made our way across. I also felt overwhelmingly thankful that I chose my La Sportiva approach shoes for this trip. The section after the spine was smooth sailing with large slabs of sticky granite leading up to the Matterhorn. From there we set our sites on Ice Lake for our camp spot that evening. We may have only clocked 8.6 miles that day but we put in 5100’ of elevation gain and 2600’ of elevation loss by the time we got to the lake. Our dinner of Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef, a bunch of pre-cooked bacon, and cornbread with honey hit the spot as we carefully looked at our Gaia route potentials for the next day.
Day 3 - Hike to the Trail
I woke up feeling better than I was expecting and told my sister that I wanted to do our off-trail option which, although through incredibly steep mountainous terrain, would cut off about 8 miles of trail and get us back to the trailhead a day earlier than expected. We set off early, ascending above the lake basin and as we climbed we were able to see the entire ridge we traversed the day prior.
We reached the saddle above Ice Lake and surveyed the terrain down to the unnamed lake on the other side — steep at first and then slowly mellowing to the lake. We followed goat prints for a short while and quickly made our way to the lake basin. We stopped for a snack and talked through our next section as we were entering steep (40ishº) mid-mountain bullshit territory. We slowly picked our way through scree, traversing as much as possible in order to not lose too much elevation until we were out of the steepest part, and could see our next destination of another lake and the saddle above it we needed to get to. Back in the sub-alpine forest, we shwacked our way over tons of deadfall, navigated large granite outcroppings, and finally reached the saddle above Horseshoe Lake where we knew we’d find trail.
Getting on-trail after being off-trail feels like entering a traffic-free 6 lane highway. We stopped for lunch and giddily chatted through what we had just accomplished and felt so much stoke for the day ahead. Lunch was outta this world good. Rehydrated hummus flavored with olive oil, lemon pepper, salt, and pine nuts, baby cucumbers, sliced bell peppers, and Dots pretzel twists. Having fresh food on the trail amidst bars, cured meat, and freeze dried food is absolute heaven and more doable than most people think.
We hiked for several more hours and the miles ticked by fast as we exited the main lakes basin and got back onto the trail along Hurricane Creek. We found a lovely spot to camp for our third and final night. We bathed in the creek, washed our hiking clothes, and watched trout dart around until it was time for dinner. Peak Refuel Thai Coconut Curry eaten on top of mini Naan rounds accompanied by mango sticky rice (1 c instant rice, ¼ c unsweetened coconut, 3 tbs powdered milk, and sesame seeds rehydrated with boiling water. I added dried mango and honey during the rehydration).
Day 4 - Hike to the Car
What we thought would be a somewhat boring hike out our last morning turned out to be absolutely incredible as we took in large sub-alpine meadows, towering ridges, and the deep river canyon below. The wildflowers continued to wow us and we laughed and chatted our way back to the trailhead. We arrived at our vehicle just before noon on Friday, found a spot for a quick bath along the river, and immediately searched for where to eat lunch when we got back into cell service.
I expected to experience muscle soreness in the days after the trip but my legs felt remarkably good considering this was my first hike of the season. When all was said and done, here’s how the trip stats played out for us:
3 nights
28.77 trailed and off-trail miles
8041’ elevation gain
8057’ elevation loss
