Straight to the top

We arrived in Wallowa Lake on Sunday afternoon. Our first excursion was riding the Wallowa Lake Tramway on Labor Day. The tram takes about 15 minutes to transport riders 4000 vertical feet to the top of Mount Howard.

There is a restaurant on the top reputed to be of dubious quality and about 3 miles worth of hiking trails. We walked the whole circuit and it was interesting how arid it was on one side (top photo) compared to the other (middle photo). There were many adorable chipmunks and squirrels begging for food.


The lake in the last two photos is Wallowa Lake. Although the tram is spendy, the views are well worth the cost for those of us who don't savor the idea of a hike with a 4000 foot elevation gain.
Although the area was quite busy when we arrived on Sunday, by the time we finished up at the tram, things had really quieted down.

Couple of stops along the way

Our ultimate destination is Wallowa Lake in the northeast corner of Oregon. It's about a 6.5 hour drive from Portland so we made a couple of stops along the way and spent the night in beautiful Boardman.

Our first stop was at the Mary Hill Museum just over the river in Washington state. We have driven by the museum on many previous trips but finally decided to stop this year. About 30 minutes prior to arriving at the museum we were caught in a torrential downpour which is unusual for this part of the state. We were grateful to pull off the road at the museum and let the weather clear. The contents of the museum were more eclectic than we expected. My favorite exhibits were the chess set collection and the view from the balcony.

After spending the night in Boardman we visited the recently opened SAGE (Sustainable AGriculture and Energy) Center. It was essentially a public relations outlet for the agriculture and industry of Morrow County but it was quite well done. Mr. Snootypurse is driving a tractor simulator at the Center trying to apply fertilizer more accurately than a GPS guided system. They also offer a simulated hot air balloon ride, numerous interactive exhibits, and a free scoop of Tillamook ice cream!