Day 2 in the Blech

Northwest Return Travelog #9
At the hotel in Clarkston, WA - Sat, 31 Jul 2021. 9am.

We're ready to begin Day 2 of our Inland Northwest trip and... Ugh. It's going to be another hot one today, with temperatures up to 110° F here in Clarkston and sooty, gray skies caused by wildfires burning... pretty much everywhere in the region. And to think— we canceled our trip a month ago because of only high temperatures. Now we've got almost-as-high temperatures and the whole area's on fire. 😣

Well, let's look at the positives. For today we're headed south into Oregon, to visit the top of Mt. Howard via the Wallowa Lake Tramway. It's near the town of Joseph, named for the last chief of the Nez Perce native people. It will be cooler there, as we'll be going to the top of a mountain over 8,000' elevation. We're hoping it'll be less smoky, too, as it's not as close to any wildfires.

As for here.... Well, after getting back last night we were pretty tired out. We had just enough energy to spend a while out at the pool and hot tub.



The pool water looked very inviting. The smoky, gray sky, not so much. But the cool water— surprisingly cool given the 100+ temperatures here— felt good.

After a swim and a soak we watched TV in the room for a bit. That was all we had energy for.

Today's a new day, and we're recharged on energy. Of course, part of that comes from sleeping in a bit this morning. It's 9am and we're just getting ready to go.... I had hoped to be out of here sooner, especially as the weather forecast calls for thunderstorms mid-afternoon. We definitely don't want to be on top of a mountain if/when a storm hits!

Taking the Tram to the Top

Northwest Return Travelog #10
Atop Mt. Howard, OR - Sat, 31 Jul 2021. 12:30pm.

"This would be a lot easier if they put in an escalator," I occasionally quip to passers-by on tough uphill hikes. Well, in a few places they have. ...Well, not literally an escalator, but an equally effort saving thing: a tram lift. There's a tram to the top of Mt. Howard above Wallowa Lake in northeastern Oregon, and that's where we went today.



The tram looks deceptively simply from the lower terminus. What you see in the photo above is only the lower one-third of the tramway. In total the tram ascends 3,700 vertical feet over a travel distance of 1.83 miles. It takes 15 minutes each way.

We bought our tickets and queued in line. The fee of $38 each seemed steep at first but it works out to about a dollar per 100 vertical feet not climbed. When I think of it in terms of, "Would I pay $1 to ride an escalator for the next 100' of ascent?" it's obvious why it's a good idea. Plus, unlike an escalator, we don't even have to stand. We got to sit in a nice little tram car for the ride.



The 15 minute ride is a lot of time for snapping pictures. I made use of it by snapping a lot of pics. 😅 Many of them turned out poorly, though, because of trees popping up in the way as the tram whisked through the forest. And all of them were marred by the ash-laden sky around us. Even so, the views were so inspiring that 15 minutes seemed to pass in more like 5-6. Then we alit from our cab and breathed in the... alas not fresh and clean... air atop Mt. Howard at elev. 8,150'.

From here we'll hike a loop trail a few miles around the top of the mountain. Stay tuned for more! Update: Views atop Mt. Howard.