DAY 1: TO GLACIER LAKE

For a considerable length of time the Eagle Cap Wilderness has been something like a family mystery go down from era to era. Part-American Frontier, part-High Sierras, this 360,000 section of land zone is the crown gem of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest that traverses the whole northeastern corner of Oregon.

A corner I thought to be really remote – until the point that we pulled up to the trailhead late on Friday night to discover the parking area officially loaded with autos.

Such a great amount for keeping family privileged insights.

We put down the seats in our Subaru and rested in the back for the night – shockingly agreeable for 5'10" me, not really agreeable for 6'5" Jeff. In the morning we discovered our companion Matthew resting in his auto a little routes not far off. We had a fast back end breakfast, put on our heavy packs, and began up the East Fork Lostine River Trail.

After an exhausting begin and a limited experience with some pack stallions, the trail leveled out. For three happily level miles we strolled with Eagle Cap before us, approaching over the valley like a smaller than normal Half-Dome.