Crowded Cascades deepen Wallowa love

Published 7:30 am Saturday, August 13, 2016

Whenever I see lists of the best hikes in Oregon, I can’t resist reading. Most of the time it’s to see pretty pictures and/or dream of possibly going on the hikes, but it’s also interesting to study the choices.

I’ve found that the more respectable lists give all the regions in Oregon their due. Northeast Oregon is usually represented, despite it remaining somewhat of a well-kept secret.

But let’s face it — the Cascade Mountains, plus the west side in general, are typically the most prominent. That may be with good reason, as it’s where the majority of the state’s population recreates, which creates more demand for information on those trails. And peaks such as Mount Hood or Mount Jefferson make for imposing, iconic images.

After largely hitting the Wallowa Mountains in the two-plus years I’ve lived in La Grande, sprinkling in trips to the Elkhorns and Strawberrys, I decided to listen to these lists and do a backpack outside the immediate region. I’ve fallen in love with Northeast Oregon’s scenery, but it’s human nature (or maybe just my nature) to take it for granted and perceive the grass elsewhere as always being greener.

I settled on a loop of the Three Sisters. It was near Bend, where I stayed with friends for a couple nights, and its popularity allowed me to easily research it and plan a route from afar.

While it was a memorable trip, it gave me an even higher appreciation of Northeast Oregon, if that was possible.

To be clear: This column is more of a celebration of what we have in Northeast Oregon, not a knock on the Three Sisters loop and the surrounding area. The Three Sisters Wilderness was splendid. The rivers were beautiful, as were the three volcanoes, and views offered from nearby peaks were great. I recommend it to anyone.

It’s also not a “homer” type of attitude, either. After reading so much about the Three Sisters area, and as my trip neared, my expectation was to have our area’s mountains blown away by the Cascades. There were, however, a few personal downsides that affect the experience for me.

For one thing, there was a ton of people. At times, I felt like I was almost in a densely wooded city park somewhere. I definitely don’t mind running into other folks in the mountains — it’s nice to stop and chat with a fellow hiker on a trail, and I was aware the Three Sisters has one of the more heavily used trail systems in Oregon.

Yet it just seemed like every couple of minutes I was stumbling into a party of eight people. I didn’t enjoy the isolation and serenity I do here, and getting away from it all and clearing my mind is one of the perks of backpacking for me.

The second point might sound odd, and I’ll probably curse myself for even thinking this during my next outing in Northeast Oregon.

But I missed the vertical aspect.

I go backpacking to unwind and have fun, of course, but I also like challenging and pushing myself. Following a leg-burning, switchback-laced climb in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, there’s not a much better feeling of accomplishment than reaching a lake or another point I had planned to reach that day.

The loop of the Three Sisters was strenuous, of course, especially with side trips to places like Camp Lake. I was drained when I finished. And I’m sure there’s plenty of hikes in that area that offer more up and down routes. In my opinion, though, it was the sheer distance, rather than the elevation gains, that ultimately tired me the most, and some of the long, flat stretches over open expanses frankly bored me.

That leads to my personal biggest difference: the scenery. Seeing all three of the 10,000-foot-plus volcanoes from 360 degrees worth of different angles was pretty intriguing. All of them looked like different mountains at times. The volcanic rock in the northern section was also really cool.

But after the initial sense of awe in seeing the Three Sisters, it almost became mundane after a couple of days. The accompanying foothills and nearby terrain were nice, but I didn’t think there was a whole lot of diversity.

That’s one of the things I love about hiking in Northeast Oregon. Most of my experience is in the Wallowas, and I love the dense nature of the range. It reminds me of the mountains in Montana. So I may be biased, but I prefer ranges such as the Wallowas more than stretches of low land separating connected but semi-solitary peaks. When I’m in the Wallowas, I feel like around each corner, there’s a new pass or picturesque lake to discover, views I never have or will see again, with stark peaks rising out of nowhere. There’s just such a variety of alpine, meadow and valley and the features they all bring. I just didn’t get that sense of discovery circling the Three Sisters.

I remember running into an older gentleman near the end of my loop. After telling him where I was from, he said something to the effect of, “This is your first time here? I bet you love it!” I said that I did, and I wasn’t lying. But I also thought later, “Yeah, but I can’t wait to get back to the Wallowas.”

I’ll never forget the Three Sisters loop. I’ll also never forget how it made me appreciate the amazing mountains and scenery I get to see every day out here, and offered another reminder to never take the positives in life for granted. I’m fortunate (and a little spoiled) I am to be able to call the mountains of Northeast Oregon home.