Fred Barstad - Hiking Oregons Eagle Cap Wilderness: A Guide to the Areas Greatest Hiking Adventures

A native Oregonian, Fred Barstad developed a keen interest in the remote high country of his state when he was young. As a teenager in the 1960s, Barstad roamed the Cascade Range in search of lakes to fish and peaks to climb. This search soon became an addiction for bagging peaks. Barstad has climbed all the major Cascade peaks in Oregon, many of them several times, including sixty-three climbs to the summit of Mount Hood.

Barstad eventually developed a desire to climb mountains outside of Oregon, which took him to Mount Rainier in Washington, 20,320-foot-high Mount McKinley in Alaska, Aconcagua in Argentina, and Popocatpetl and Citlaltpetl in Mexico.

Ever since he saw the Wallowa Mountains on a family vacation in 1961, Barstad has spent many years exploring, hunting, and fishing the canyons and peaks of this range. In 1987 he moved to Enterprise, Oregon, and began exploring the vast wild area of Eagle Cap Wilderness. He soon recognized a need for a guidebook to this spectacular area and eventually sold his business interest in the Wallowa Lake Marina to devote all of his attention to writing hiking books.

Barstad has hiked all the trails and routes featured in this book, nearly 1,500 miles worth. He hopes that Hiking Oregons Eagle Cap Wilderness will promote more interest in helping to preserve its pristine quality.

I would like to thank Gary Fletcher for hiking with me, contributing photos, and editing the text. I also want to thank Maria Forsenius, Kerry Searles, Lowell Euhus, Ettore Negri, Lance Reedy, and Jerry Lavender for hiking with me and furnishing pictures.

Thanks to Casey Barstad, Brian Barstad, Dan Knight, Doug Cracraft, Oliver Boeve, and Dave Kaufman for hiking and camping with me and keeping me company over many miles. Also of great help were Bill George, for hiking with me and sharing his knowledge of the area, and Vic Coggins, of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, for information on the bighorn sheep and mountain goats.

Thanks also to Larry Brandvold, John Hollendeak, Nancy Rudger, Sweyn Wall, and all the employees of USDA Forest Service at the Wallowa Mountains Office for much information on trail status and maintenance. Thanks to Bud Sanders for trail information. Most of all I thank my wife, Suzi Barstad, for hiking and camping with me, and for her endless hours of typing and editing to get this book ready for publication.

USDA Forest Service

Wallowa Mountains Office

201 E 2nd St. / PO Box 905

Joseph, OR 97846

(541) 426-5546; (541) 426-4978

www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman

USDA Forest Service

Pine Ranger Station, Pine Ranger District

General Delivery

Halfway, OR 97834

(541) 742-7511

www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman

For flights to the Horse Ranch or Minam Lodge

Spence Air Service

PO Box 217

Enterprise, OR 97828

(541) 426-3288

To help with trail maintenance

Wallowa Mountains Hells Canyon Trail Association (WMHCTA)

401 NE First St., Ste. A

Enterprise, OR 97828

www.wmhcta.org

E-mail:

Or visit on Facebook.

Wing Ridge Ski Tours

500 N River St.

Enterprise, OR 97828

(541) 398-1980; (888) 812-4707, ext. 3

www.facebook.com/Wing-Ridge-Ski-Tours-239313479446588

Blaze: A mark on a tree formed by cutting away a small section of bark with a hatchet or ax. There may be one or two marks. Blazes can usually be seen some distance ahead.

Braided trail: A section of trail formed by two or more interconnecting paths. Not to be confused with cattle trails, which do not necessarily return to the main trail.

Cairn: A stack or pile of rocks that marks the trail or route.

Cirque: A glacier-carved bowl in a mountain, usually at the head of a valley, canyon, or gully.

Clear-cut: An area that has been logged of all its timber.

Complete burn: An area where all the trees were killed by a forest fire.

Gully: A trench in the ground, smaller than a canyon. It may be steep and may or may not have a stream in it.

Jeep road: A road that is impassable for most two-wheel-drive vehicles. Roads may be blocked and closed to motor vehicles.

Notch: Naturally carved-out sections of a ridge, much smaller than a saddle, with rock outcroppings on both sides.

Outcropping: Bedrock protruding through the surface of the ground.

Partial burn: An area where a forest fire killed some, but not all, of the trees.

Pika: A small mammal that lives in steep, rocky areas or talus slopes. Pikas are related to rabbits and do not hibernate.

Red digger: A species of ground squirrel.

Ridgeline: The top of a ridge; may slope steeply.

Saddle: The low point of a ridge, usually gently sloping. Much larger than a notch.

Scree: Loose rock on a slope. Rocks in a scree slope are smaller than the rocks on a talus slope. May be tiring to climb.

Semi-switchback: A tight corner (120 degrees or less) in a trail.

Small stream: A stream 2 feet wide or less; smaller than a creek or stream. May dry up in late summer or fall.

Spur ridge: A smaller ridge protruding off the main ridge. May be quite steep.

Switchback: A tight corner (more than 120 degrees) in a trail where the trail turns back on itself as it traverses a hill. Allows hikers to negotiate steep slopes.

Talus slope: A slope covered with large rocks or boulders.

Tiny stream: A stream less than 1 foot wide. Usually dry in fall.

Traverse: The crossing of a slope, climbing or descending, but usually in a nearly straight line. This term is also used to describe a route or trail that follows a fairly flat ridgeline.