Day Trip to Oregon

Tuesday morning we packed up our camera gear, a small lunch with bottles of water and headed out of Clarkston on a day-long road trip.

                 

We drove south to Asotin, WA and then headed west up through Anatone and down the Rattlesnake. This route will take us over the mountains, over the Grand Ronde River into Oregon to Enterprise and Joseph.

The summit of Rattlesnake is at about 3100 foot, then twists and turns it’s way down to the Grand Ronde River at about 600 foot elevation.

After crossing the river the road then twists and turns up again on the Oregon side to about 3100 feet!!!

It is a great paved road and is a favorite of motorcyclists who love all the curves and switchbacks.

 

Back up on the top again, a stop is needed at the Joseph Canyon Overlook with breath-taking views of the mountains and canyon.

 

  We passed on through Enterprise, OR…………………….

         and through Joseph, OR…………………….

               

……and on to the Wallowa Lake Tramway!!!

(Click on pix to read the stats of the tramway)

                     Wow……….what a ride!!!!

           

                 Note the elevation………….

                 

    

Fantastic views of the Wallowa Mountains and Wallowa Lake below.   

       

             

 

                         

There are a number of hiking trails around the summit and we did our share of walking.

      

                            Yes, I did it!!!!!!

            

There are hungry little critters everywhere to greet every new hiker with the hopes they have goodies to share!!!

Ground squirrels……………………….

 

                Chipmunks………………………..

 

                                  Camp Robbers!!!!

Views on the way back down on the tram.

 

          

After a great trip up and down the tramway and hiking trails with fantastic views, we ate our picnic lunch at Wallowa Lake State Park.

We drove back to Joseph, OR and walked down Main Street and visited some of the great shops there. Joseph is known for it’s bronze sculptures and artisans, here are pictures of a few sculptures on the main street of Joseph.

        

         

    

                        

After an ice cream in Joseph we headed back home again, following the same route down the winding road to the Grand Ronde River and back up the Rattlesnake.

We have been over this route a couple of times in the past, but each time is new and wonderful! Don’t miss it if you are ever in the area.

 

Just us kids out playing…………….