We have been official “Deputy Camp Hosts” We have been unofficially and jokingly dubbed “C.I.s” (confidential informants) Now we are “Donkey Babysitters!”
This area along the Idaho-Oregon border is the land of the pack train. Horses, mules, and donkeys are loaded up to head into the backcountry, just like in the old westerns. While camping below the Eagle Cap Wilderness we camped next to a couple of bow hunters heading in for the month long elk season. They were using donkeys to pack their gear into camp. They headed in, but returned the following day with a lame donkey. Over the next few days, we stopped by to chat with the guys and to check on the patient. We happily offered to watch the burros so they could head to town to track down a farrier. A few days later, the abscess in the hoof was healed and the donkey train was off.
Gimpy, Lips, Nougie, and BB were our charges for the day!
Poor Gimpy with a sore hoof.Noughie gets a head scratch.And he posed for a close up. BB and Lips get in on the scratches.
All names have been changed to protect the innocent😎
10 miles south of Wallowa, Oregon is an 8 site free USFS campground on Bear Creek with trail access to the Eagle Cap Wilderness. It might be the jackpot of all spots. Quiet, a beautiful stream for dipping and cooking water, great trees to hang our hammocks, pack animals with hikers and hunters, and friendly neighbors and staff. What more could we ask for in a place to hide from the very hot summer heat.
Bear Creek: gushing, soothing, and refreshing.
I guess we looked like trouble
Elk for dinner! A mainstay of this region is elk. An elk in the freezer will easily feed a family for the winter. Tonight we got a taste courtesy of Kurt, a US Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer, who stopped by for a visit with fellow State Trooper, Mark, and returned later with a package of elk and some great conversation.
Before the handcuffs came out 😁
Best neighbors ever
Rhylee and 3 generations of her family camped down the way in the next site. Rhylee gave us the distinguished title of ‘Best Neighbors Ever’ when we returned one of the family dogs and told her we would love for her and her cousin, Taylor, to continue building their fort between our 2 sites (I guess the previous occupants hadn’t been kid or dog friendly). During our stay, Rhylee’s grandmother and aunts told us stories about their family’s journey west on the Oregon Trail to settle in Wallowa and the Nez Perce who once lived in this valley, Chief Joseph being the most well known for his continuing quest to protect his people and their homeland. One story told how their family sheltered a pregnant Nez Perce woman during the purge of the Nez Perce. The baby died during childbirth and was buried on Rhylee’s family land in a small unmarked grave.
Rhylee made us a cheat sheet so we would know who was who.The small unmarked grave of the Nez Perce baby.
The friendly blonde
Yesterday, while having coffee after groceries, we had a card declined due to one of those computer hackers. We raced around trying to figure out how to get the new card sent out without an address. Enter Jay, proprietor of the Blonde Strawberry Coffee Shop in town. Jay not only served us delicious coffee and food, he let us use the Blonde Strawberry as our address for the card’s delivery.
If you are ever in Wallowa, stop in for good food and coffee, and really bad jokes.
The real deal
Every once in a while you meet people who really walk their talk, Dennis and Virginia were two such people. Staying at Bear creek while they scouted the wilderness for the upcoming elk hunt, we were lucky enough to spend time. Furniture maker, hunter, gatherer, flintlock handcrafter and caregivers…we were blessed to have met them.
Dennis and Virginia, good people we were lucky enough to spend time with.
While waiting out the heat in Wallowa, we think we had the ‘Best Neighbors Ever’! Thank you Kurt, Mark, Jay, Rhylee, Dennis, Virginia, and many others!
