In one of the RV magazines we had read an article extolling the Wallowa Valley in far eastern Oregon--historic, scenic, accessible, but not very developed or crowded--and resolved to give it a look. We found it indeed impressive in those respects. In earlier years, we had traveled route 95 in Idaho, just across Hell's Canyon, many times, heading south through Idaho or snowmobiling near McCall, but had never gotten far enough west to explore this part of Oregon. It reminded us a bit of the Bitterroot Valley in Montana, smaller, and perhaps as the Bitterroot might have been, development-wise, a couple generations back. We had a good two-day look and resolved to come back.
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| Campsite at Wallowa River RV Park |
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The Wallowa River nearly at flood; with plenty of snow still up
there |
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Nez Perce pow-wow center nearby; this is the valley of Chief
Joseph's people |
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After a couple days in Walowa (town), we
drove up the valley past Lostine, then the
commercial center of Enterprise, to Joseph, the
arts center, to see the many bronzes, among
other things |
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| Chief Joseph himself |
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| "Carmel Corn"...fresh from the Big Sur? |
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| St. Quonset Baptist Church |
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| Nice murals |
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| Mountain background |
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Curious relationship between topless cowboy and
his dog |
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| Old fashioned soda fountain |
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| Not so old fashioned |
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| More bronzes; painted |
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| More mountain back-drop |
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OK, so it's not Donatello; but it's still great to have so much
public art |
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| Not seen in other eastern Oregon towns we passed through |
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| We think this one might be called The Matterhorn |
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| Memorable |
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Marina at Lake Wallowa, up at the top of the valley; a beautiful
state park |
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| More back-drop |
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| Leaving on route 3... |
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| A pano of Joseph Canyon |
