West Eagle Meadow and Boulder Park Horse Camps, Oregon

This trip started out great, however as time went on things went a little sideways, but it makes for a good story.... so here goes:

Tombstone Lake in the Wallowa's.

I had planned to do a 10 or 11 day trip at three different camps, all in the same general area.
I took my time driving there, and arrived at West Eagle Meadow around 5:00pm the first day. You have to drive on dirt FS roads for a long while, coming from Medical Springs which is outside of Baker City. The hiking books, websites and even an email inquiry to the ranger station, had made it seem like the last 4.5 miles of the road were extremely rough, it actually says not recommended for trailers, so imagine my surprise when it was totally fine. It had been recently graded, big rocks had been removed, and fresh gravel had been added.

This camp has 6 sites in a loop, there are no corrals but some spots have hitching rails, and one has a star feeder. There is a bathroom with a garbage can in it.This is a nice camp but it obviously does not get a lot of use. It is situated right before you get to the trailhead and parking area for backpackers and hikers. The fee is $5.00 per night or free with a NW Forest Pass.There is technically stock water if you are willing to walk a ways to the creek, or drive a little closer in order to fill containers.

West Eagle Meadow Horse Camp.

West Eagle Meadow.

As I was settling in on the first evening, I soon realized that my water heater was on the fritz. Great....
Cold showers for many days, of course this would happen on the first night, and not the last.

Most of the trails I rode on this trip were not extremely well marked, the signs are old, some are missing the necessary info, a lot of times just the post remains.
On the West Eagle Meadow Trail you ride straight out for the first three miles, and then it splits and you have a choice, left or right, so my first day I went left, destination, Tombstone Lake.
These trails are not for the faint of heart, cliffs, granite, lots of elevation gain, but there is a payoff, absolute beauty. As I rode up and up and up, I looked across and I could see where the trail went that I was going to take the following day....hmmmm interesting how from afar it doesn't look even remotely passable!

On the West Eagle Meadow Trail.

Looking across at the trail for the next day....it goes across the landslide area!

On the trail to Tombstone Lake.

My horse, Rina, had started out that morning with a pep in her step and was spooking for no reason at silly things, but after gaining about 3000 feet of elevation she wasn't quite so rambunctious anymore. We eventually got to a ridge, and there was the lake spread out below us.

Tombstone Lake.

The mountains beside Tombstone Lake.

I turned around from there and on the way back down we could see the lake and waterfall across the way, we would be visiting the next day.

Echo Lake from afar.

Corkscrew Falls.

The next day, you guessed it, we went to the right, which headed to Echo and Traverse Lakes.
This wasn't quite as much elevation gain and was a little shorter of a ride, but not by much. What was nice was my horse never actually broke a sweat or was breathing hard, because although it's constant climbing for long sections, the trails are zigzag switchbacks. The mileage on both rides was not crazy long ( about 15 and 13 ) but it takes all day to do them in this kind of country, not much chance for moving fast, lots of granite to negotiate, and of course stopping frequently to take it all in.

Having a break on the way to Echo and Traverse Lakes.

Echo Lake.

A section of the trail to Traverse Lake.

Traverse Lake.

Traverse Lake.

Heading back down, above Echo Lake.

We spent one more night and then the next day, we moved to the second camp, a mere 8 miles away.

Boulder Park has 8 sites, again there are no corrals but two have star feeders, a bathroom, plus another bathroom at the nearby trailhead with a garbage can, and another creek for stock water that is not especially close. This camp is free, I have no idea why, since it is more popular than the first one, but I am not complaining.

Boulder Park.

Our camp spot at Boulder Park.

Although the campground is called Boulder Park, the trailhead is called Main Eagle. Again you ride straight out, this time for just over 4 miles, and then you have two options (there is another option before you get there, but it is not horse friendly, and the trail is not maintained) straight to Eagle Lake, or right to Bear Lake, which is the one I did first.

These are easier trails than from out of West Eagle, but there is still a climb, minus the switchbacks this time, and one short cliff area to get to Bear Lake. On the way, there is also a detour to Culver Lake.

The first part of the Main Eagle Trail, very lush foliage beside the creek.

Crossing the creek on the Main Eagle Trail.

Well, this bridge has been out for awhile.

Checking us out.

Eagle Creek Meadow is where the trail splits.

Bear Lake.

The following day I went to Eagle Lake which is where things started to go awry. First my camera stopped working for no reason I could decipher, then a short while later as I was leading Rina across a section of granite, she slipped and fell, landing on her side and ripping the reins out of my hand. Luckily she got back up quickly, and since the trail was a little wider, she wasn't in danger of going off the cliff. She was a little scraped up, but no major damage done, so we continued the rest of the way to the lake. Pictures from here on out had to be taken on my Iphone.

Eagle Lake.

The dam at Eagle Lake. They dam it for irrigation water.

On the way back as we were about 4 miles away from camp, a storm came through, some extreme winds and then hail, rain, thunder and lightning. We took cover and waited for it to blow over which it did fairly quickly. Just as I was thinking, well that wasn't so bad, we rounded the corner and a huge tree was down, completely blocking the trail. And that was the theme for the rest of the ride, a trail that had been completely clear earlier, was now littered with downed trees, most of which were really hard to get around. I had to be very creative to get my horse through it, a couple of times I wondered if we would get out at all, at this point I was cold and wet and not keen on spending the night out there, but we made it back.

One of the many trees that fell.

The next day I was supposed to move to the third camp, and so I packed up and started driving, only getting about a mile away before coming across more downed trees completely blocking the road. I was trapped. Someone in an SUV had driven in to the trailhead that morning, and I saw by their tracks that they had driven off road to get around it. I thought about that option for about an hour and a half, and then just decided it was too risky with my trailer. Eventually I backed up and as I was parking on the side of the road the SUV people came back by. I stopped them and asked if they would notify someone once they got back to civilization, to come and remove the trees. I figured I would be spending another night, while I waited for rescue. But the couple in the SUV were very helpful and drove ahead down the road to where some other people were camped, found an ax, came back and chopped up the trees clearing just enough room for me to squeeze my trailer past, which was extremely sweet, and very lucky, since just a few miles farther down the road, I saw smoke. Yup, a forest fire caused by the lightning. There were helicopters starting to dump water on it, and I was being passed by trucks bringing up firefighting equipment.

I finally made it to my third camp which was Buck Creek, (far enough away from the fire). I spent the night there, and considered doing the ride there, but there had been more storms overnight and thunder was still rumbling in the morning. Also, there was smoke starting to drift through the air, so I figured it was time to shorten my trip. The road back down is very steep, enough to smoke my truck and trailer brakes causing me to have to pull over and wait a bit for them to cool.( I learned later my trailer brakes weren't working very well, so that explains it, but it is a very steep road ) As I got into Baker City there were fires burning in every direction, and there was thick smoke almost all the way home. In the next couple days even more fires started, sadly, Eastern Oregon was burning up, and I was really glad I left when I did....sometimes you got to get while the getting's good!


GPS COORDINATES TO WEST EAGLE MEADOW

GPS COORDINATES TO BOULDER PARK

Whitefish Horse Camp, Oregon

Some friends of mine have started an annual group trip to Whitefish Horse Camp. Last year I couldn't make it, but this year I was able to fit it in. I had been there already about 5 years before, but there a lot of trails, and I certainly hadn't seen the whole area yet. If you like lakes, and lots of easy trail options then this is the place to go.

Diamond Peak from Diamond View Lake.

I got there pretty early in the morning before most everyone else in my group had arrived, and as I drove through camp I saw there was still someone in my reserved spot. Reservations are usually a good idea for this popular place, especially on weekends. Check out time wasn't until 2:00 pm so I proceeded to try to find somewhere else to park in the meantime. (There is no day use area.) The people in my spot who were from the Yakima area came over to talk to me, and mentioned they wanted to spend another night. So knowing that we had cancellations within our group, I moved into another site which was nicer than the one I would have had originally, so that worked out well. When the Hoodoo guy came through later in the day to collect everyone's money, he didn't care about the swap, but I am bringing this up because a lot of spots ended up being empty while we were there, although online it deceivingly appeared that the camp was booked solid.

Whitefish Horse Camp.

I got tacked up and got onto Whitefish Creek Trail which takes you to a really good view of Diamond Peak. I was going to do a loop, but I noticed that the trail continued on to Odell Lake from there, so I got distracted from my original plan and went that way instead. When I got about halfway I came upon Trapper Creek, and then eventually the trail ends at some railroad tracks, and I was suddenly back in civilization, at the Shelter Cove Resort and Marina and the Kokanee Lodge. This is an out and back ride, which is just over 20 miles.

Diamond Peak.

Odell Lake.

Lunch at the tracks by Odell Lake.

Trapper Creek Trail at Odell Lake.

Back in camp I said hello to my friends who had arrived in my absence, and a plan was made for riding the following day.

Whitefish is located close to the town of Crescent about 65 miles south of Bend OR. It has 17 sites, toilets, garbage, a manure bin with wheelbarrows, and potable water from spigots. The sites have either 2 or 4 horse steel corrals. They are $14.00 and $18.00 per night respectively. Crescent Lake is directly across the street within walking distance. The Pacific Crest Trail is accessible from here as well as the Metolious Windigo Trail which runs right through camp.

Crescent Lake.

The view from Crescent lake.

Six of us started out the next day to ride to Snell Lake, but we had to make a detour and ride along the road for awhile and then get back over to the Met Win since the bridge was out and we were not able to cross there. Update: The bridge is still out as of Sept. 2016. The remains of the bridge have been removed and people have been riding down the bank into the creek, but some friends of mine that camped there recently, reported that it may not be the best option for a green horse, since there is a large rock to step over before getting into the creek. Update #2: Apparently this descent into the creek has been leveled out by the forest service, and it is no longer a problem.

Bridge is out on the Met Win.

Riding up Rd. 6010 with Lori directly behind me on Bella.

We rode up dirt road 6010 until we got to the Snell Lake Trail and then continued on for awhile towards Effie Lake. Since I had planned a much longer ride than anyone else in the group wanted to do, I bid them all adieu and rode over to the trail to Meek Lake. This took me on a 18 ish mile loop past about a million other lakes, ( not kidding, there is a lake about every couple of minutes) until I reached Summit Lake. Summit is huge, but can be pretty quiet, since access is only by 4x4 or high clearance vehicles.

Meek Lake Trailhead.

Meek lake.

Although there was some trail clearing that had happened the weekend before we arrived, most of the trails I rode were not actually cleared. Most of it was not too bad, and I never had to turn around. Mosquito's were at a minimum, with it being such a dry year, there were just a few here and there, but don't count on that not being a normal occurrence.

Lots of forest in between the lakes.

Summit Lake.

Summit Lake.

The next day I went over to Oldenburg Lake, passing Bingham Lakes, Darlene Lake, Suzanne Lake, which was my favorite, and then Windy Lakes, making a loop of about 16 miles.

Darlene Lake.

Suzanne Lake, it's pretty deep and has some rocks for jumping off of.

Found this at Suzanne Lake.

There is another large loop that can be done to Fawn Lake, Pretty Lake and Stag Lake which I had done on my last visit, as well as some other trails to explore, making this a particularly good camp for any type of rider. Lots of options for long distance, but also a lot of easy out and backs, for people that want shorter rides.

Happy Trails!


GPS COORDINATES TO WHITEFISH

Currier Spring and Farm Well Horse Camps, Oregon

So this heat wave is something else. I had to find a way to escape for a little while. There are quite a few trail heads and camps that access the Fremont Winema Trail, and Currier Spring is the highest at almost 7000 feet. I figured that would do nicely.

The view of Summer Lake from Winter Rim.

Directions are correct in the OET book, but there is not much other info to be found online about this camp.

Just outside of Paisley OR you drive up to the top of Winter Rim and "voila" a nice little obviously underused camp and trail head. The drive is on a gravel road that is fairly steep, with a couple of narrow areas. On the way up I saw a bear, I was driving and he was running away, so no chance for a picture but it was great to see him since I rarely see bears in all my travels. As I pulled in I was greeted by a herd of cows and a very large bull congregating by the spring that the camp is named for. The bull was making some loud noises and pawing the ground a bit, so we eyed each other for awhile until he finally decided to saunter back over to all his womenfolk, allowing me to safely wander around and figure out where to park. There are three smaller campsites in a half circle and I found another site just around the corner from the trail head with a lot more room, enough for several rigs.

Currier Spring Horse Camp.

This is a primitive camp, with no bathroom, only one site has a set of steel corrals, two of the spots have picnic tables and fire rings. There is the spring nearby for stock water, but no potable water, and no fee.

Currier Spring Horse Camp.

The spring.

Local critter.

I headed out to ride the trail along the rim. Beautiful views, copious amounts of flowers, large birds soaring overhead, and a ton of bugs! Mosquito's were few and far between, but we were followed and harassed by a cloud of various other insects. I learned to keep my mouth firmly shut lest I ingest some unwanted protein. I was riding with my left hand and using my right hand to swat and kill deer flies that were attaching themselves to my poor pony.The trail heading north is very scenic but sometimes faint and I did lose it several times, but it is well marked. It became a game of "spot the national recreation trail signs" posted on trees, also there were a lot of large cairns, and sometimes orange trail tape. This section of trail has been maintained in the past, so as far as blow down, there was some, but it was easy to get around for quite awhile.... until suddenly it wasn't. I rode back down to the dirt road that runs parallel and then found the trail again later on.

Summer lake below Winter Rim.

So many different flowers.

Riding along the Fremont Winema Trail on Winter Rim.

Fairly well maintained for awhile.

Out in an old burn area.

Summer Lake.

Riding south however was another matter. On the second day I got about two miles along it and then the trail became a complete mess, which makes sense since it leaves the rim and no longer has a view so nobody has maintained it for a long time. I rode the rest of the day either on dirt roads or cross country.

Riding cross country through meadows and aspens.

Purple dirt road anyone?

I decided to leave that night and go to my next destination, Farm Well outside of Silver Lake. It is lower elevation, so it was hotter, but I wanted an early start for riding in the morning. Last year I did a day ride from Farm Well to the top of Hager Mountain, while I was camped at Silver Creek Marsh which I describe in another blog about that camp. Silver Creek Marsh Horse Camp
But this time I planned to ride the Fremont Winema trail to the south.

Farm Well is a really nice free camp, with lots of room between the 5 sites, there is a bathroom, a manure bin, and two large stock water ponds/swamps. The sites do not have corrals but there are four large communal corrals. I just parked in a spot close to them. I could see that this camp does get quite a bit of use but both times I have been there, there were no other horse people. I did have company though, some very quiet non horse campers. One fellow wandered over to say hi and to look at my horse.

The communal corrals at Farm Well.

Stock watering hole at Farm Well.

Stock watering hole at Farm Well.

I entertained myself that evening by photographing the local wildlife. There were a lot of vultures hanging about in the trees. I counted 16 that night. In the morning there were easily twice that many out by the watering hole.

Vulture.

Riding south the next day, the trail started out in the trees, headed into an old burn area for awhile, passing under some of those huge crackling power lines that make me worry my brain is being fried from exposure, through a few small canyons, across some grasslands, and then about 6 miles later, back into the woods. This whole section of trail was well maintained.

Riding south on Fremont Winema trail from Farm Well.

One of the small canyons.

Hager Mt.

Driving back to Silver Lake I learned that their gas station is only open three days a week, and Monday was not one of those days, so.... note to self, and anyone reading, make sure you have plenty of gas before heading out into this area. I barely made it back to La Pine!


GPS COORDINATES TO CURRIER SPRING

GPS COORDINATES TO FARM WELL