We leave Oregon

Our 3 month stint in Oregon has come to an end.  We packed up and left on September 13th.  We will be slowly making our way back to the East Coast, taking at least 10 days to drive back.  We stopped in northeastern Oregon in a little town called Joseph. It was named after Nez Perce (a Native American tribe of the Pacific Northwest) Chief Joseph. After Joseph, we stopped at Hells Canyon National Recreation Area - check for that post in a few days.

Our last glimpse of the Columbia River.

A view of north central Oregon.  Not the green you are used to along the western 1/3rd of the state.

The town of Joseph.

Chief Joseph Mountain in the background. It is 9,610' tall.


A really nice life-size  bronze statute at one of the intersections.

Just south of Joseph is Mt. Howard. It has a tram going up to the summit. It is one of the steepest trams in the country.  It goes up  almost 3/4 of a mile up to the summit where there are 2 miles     of trails. The views of the  surrounding area were spectacular.

You can see 2 people walking on one of the trails.

Mt. Howard nomad.

A good looking dead tree.

A trail looking south.  Note the 2 hikers at the right edge.

Looking north.

Looking west.

Looking east.

The lake left of center is Wallowa Lake.

A closer view of the lake from the tram. You really can't see it, but at the tip of the lake is Joseph.

Caught this rainbow while on the road to Hells Canyon.