Our Labor Day Weekend

We shoved off Saturday morning for eastern Oregon for a backpacking trip in the Wallowa Mountains - southwest of Baker City. After a very, very, very treacherous drive on a jeep road up to 8,100 feet, we set up camp for Saturday night at the summit of the ridge - so we had GREAT views going both directions. This one is taken to the west over the blue mountains.



This photo looks east over the Wallowa mountains. We watched the sun set on one side and the moon rise on the other - really neat. We slept in the back of the truck, and got up early the next morning to hike 5 miles into our next campspot.

 

Pretty white pine snags and lichen on the hike in.



And we saw TONS of mountain goats! We came upon some on the trail and Carmen chased after them. At pretty much any time during our hike and camp, we could look up into the canyons and spot some.



We finally came around a corner to a view of the lake we were going to be camping at....

Blue crystal clear and very very cold water



We used one of our wedding presents for the first time - a backpacking hammock. Not a bad view or way to relax after the hike in!



Stoking the fire

Not a bad campsite

Sunset. The only bad part about camping in this amphitheater like setting is that the sun sets really early behind the walls of the ridges.

Sunrise the next morning

Hiking out

We took back roads most of the way back to Portland on Monday. The small towns are SO remote and the ranches are SO big - its always a trip to imagine what living there would be like.

We got back dirty and tired (especially Carmen) but its always so worth it. The house is trashed, there is no clean laundry or TP, we had a softball game until late last night and tonite I have to pack to leave for a girls camping trip to the San Juan Islands this weekend. A bit crazy but all good stuff.

Can't wait to catch up more with everyone!