slgwv's photos with the keyword: 6364

Looking slightly west of south from off Mt. Howard, accessed by the Mt. Howard tramway. The Wallowas (wuhl-OW-uh, btw, with "ow" as in "town") lie in northeastern Oregon and don't fit the usual image of Oregon mountains. They're a heavily glaciated range in granitic and high-grade metamorphic rock, in contrast to the young volcanics of the Cascades. There was hardrock mining activity here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily for gold, but since the 1930s the bulk of the area has been preserved in the Eagle Cap Wilderness (previously "primitive area"), with Eagle Cap (outlined; 9572 ft/2918 m)) as the centerpiece. The East Fork of the Wallowa River lies in the prominent canyon below; the side drainage directly below the viewpoint is Royal Purple Canyon. The Mt. Howard tramway rises some 4000 ft from the village at the base, and when built in 1970 was claimed to be the steepest tram in North America. Without it, views like this are not available without a long and strenuous climb! The inset shows a view more to the right, with the highest peaks marked. The Wallowas are well known in the Pacific Northwest, but they're not much of a Destination otherwise. You don't even see that many California license plates in the campground! ;)