Iwetemlaykin is Nez Perce for “at the edge of the lake.” Established as an Oregon State Park in 2009, it lies between Joseph and Wallowa Lake. It is an exceptional place to hike and enjoy quiet beauty.
Iwetemlaykin, Joseph OR
Tag Archives: Wallowa County
The Place where God dwells
Every year as I read through my chronological Bible, something new jumps out at me. Psalm 43:3 did that to me recently. I realized how deeply I need God’s light and faithful care–and that ultimately, God within me, is leading me to His Holy Place where I will live and be sustained forever.
Buckhorn Springs, Imnaha River, Wallowa County
Buckhorn Springs lies in th extreme northeast corner of Oregon. It overlooks the canyons of the lower Imnaha River in Wallowa County. I try to make a later spring trip as often as possible. The view is sublime–a reminded that nature endures even as we fade and falter.
Journey
“Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so that you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”
And most definitely, it is realizing and living the transformed life that God gives us through Jesus, in whom “we are a new creation.”
BSA Troop 514 backpack into Minam Meadows
Six Scouts and another adult and myself from Troop 514 in La Grande made a mid July backpack into Minam Meadows/Red’s Horse ranch, an eight and a half mile hike from Moss Springs above Cove, Oregon. We stayed at a cabin constructed in the mid thirties by the father of a member of the Presbyterian Church. The boys, ages 11 to 17. collaborated and cooperated, living the Scout Oath and Law to the fullest I have ever experienced. It was a deep joy to listen to them laugh and share. They repaired a small bridge, hiked, fished, cooked, cleaned Mup, and played a variety of games. This trip created distinct memories of happiness for all of us.
Red’s Horse Ranch 
Minam River 
Moss Springs Trail
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, morning
After a sunset that filled my mind and heart, I woke up to this sunrise and early morning scenery near Hat Point in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in the far corner of Wallowa County. Its massive grandeur never ceases to lift one’s spirits.
Hat Point, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
Music of the morning. Cats Back sunrise
The sunrise of the Ca’ts Back and the Wallowa Mts. does not need words. The music of the mountains continues to resound in Meg’s and my mind.
Do not be daunted
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.
Do justly, now. Love mercy, now.
Walk humbly, now.
You are not obligated to complete the work,
but neither are you free to abandon it. The Talmud
The music of the Cat’s Back, Wallowa County, 1
Evocative remoteness summarizes the experience on The “Divide,” or the “Cat’s Back.” Located in a little visited corner of Wallowa County in NE Oregon, it provides some of the most beautiful country you will find anywhere in this nation. In 1885, sisters Daisy and Caroline Wasson came to live there on a homestead established by their parents. High, on an open ridge with spectacular views of the Wallowa and Seven Devils mountains, they spent ten years. Snowed in for six months of the years, they learned to sew from their mother, and do the multi varied tasks that made life bearable in the winter. In the summer, the place was magical. Daisy wrote about those who wondered how/why they could live in such “god forsaken” place: “I have a picture in my mind of Caroline, standing, listening. She has on a little white linen hat and she is holding her walking sticks, and leaning a little forward. I watch her, and then after a little bit ask what she is doing. ‘I hear music,’ she answers, ‘when I am real still and look at the mountains. I hear it.’
“I hear music when I am real still and look at the mountains.” Meg and I have enjoyed this music, the silence, as we have enjoyed the blessing and privilege to visit the Cat’s Back many times in the late spring. I hope you enjoy these pictures as well and “hear” the music for yourselves.
Hells Canyon Spring, 2018
Although Hells Canyon is a formidable barrier between Oregon and Idaho, extremely hot and dry in the summer, beautiful wildflowers bloom in the spring along the Snake River, and on the high benches. Heavenly is a much better way to describe it. I have day hiked the McGraw section for the last five years. It is a wonderful way to be reminded of His Creation!
