La Grande was home base for the weekend, so Day 1 was supposed to include a visit to their visitor-center-slash-fire-truck-museum (really) to see what the town had to offer. Natch, it was only 3pm but they had just closed along with just about everything else in town. So most of Day 1 involved exploring every inch of the only antique store and bookstore still open, relaxing in the crappy motel, planning my route the next day... and wondering what people who live in small towns do for fun.
Day 2: Hells Canyon Scenic Byway. Five observations about the 218 mile loop:
- "They" say it can be done in as little as five hours, but to really appreciate it you should take 3-4 days. "They" are probably right. I opted for the five hour journey with a few sidesteps for nature time. Most of the trails I wanted to hike were snowed in but I found an accessible one... and vowed to return in the summer to explore the rest.
Wallowa Lake - bottom of hike
Wallowa Lake - top of hike
BC Falls - Wallowa Lake hike - There are lots of little towns along the route. Everything I read about every town emphasized how "nice" and "friendly" the people were (quotes added, of course), which seemed odd before the drive. Along the drive I saw many trucks with gun racks inside the cabs (for easy access?), and several rather blunt handmade anti-abortion signs in front of houses... and started to understand the emphasis.
- They keep it weird out there too.
(apparently shoe trees are a widespread phenomenon...) - You know you live in a small town when your city map is hand-painted and fits on a piece of chart pad paper.
(map drawn to scale) - Hells Canyon itself is pretty amazing, and I highly recommend it.
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