Wild Animals Without Fear.

We did not lure this chipmunk with food. It scampered up to my teenager, who was sitting on a rock at the summit of Mount Howard. As we watched, the 'munk walked right into his hand.

That was not our only close encounter with wildlife on the mountain.

We stepped off the Wallowa Lake Tramway and started exploring the 2-and-a-half miles of groomed trails atop Mount Howard. There were still some patches of snow defying the June sun.

Barely a hundred yards away from the tram terminal, we noticed little burrows in the grass, and all of a sudden a little creature popped out of one. Quite unafraid, it scampered toward us.

Of course the kids let out squeals of delight. My slow camera missed the next shot, of the creature crawling over my son’s shoe! We were really astounded at their boldness.As there were so many burrows, I initially thought this was a prairie dog town. But on closer inspection, these were ground squirrels.

Reluctantly, we left the burrow area and followed the trail to take in the sweeping views of the Wallowas and Snake River areas - rugged canyons, stark cliffs, snowy peaks.



As we went by some sparse patches of trees, the sound of chittering caught our attention. The chipmunks were out, and spring was clearly on their minds as males chased little females all over the place.

Some of the critters had their cheeks fully puffed with food! It was absolutely enchanting the way they ventured to the trail, completely without fear.

At the mountain overlook, we sat down to take in the view, and got to see just how unfraid the chipmunks were.



There were other distractions on Mount Howard. Big nutcrackers flew about, too fast for my clumsy efforts with the camera.

And of course, wildflowers. They were much smaller than those at lower elevations. Could these little white blossoms be the famed edelweiss, I wondered?

Then, there was this little cultural observation to round out our little walk before we took the tram back down to our car.

Out of Joseph and Up into the Clouds.

As we drove out of the lovely town of Joseph toward Wallowa Lake, we stopped to see the Monument of Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph the Elder . Originally buried in the nearby town of Wallowa, his remains were moved to this spot in 1926.


Old Chief Joseph is not as well known as his son and namesake, whose image is well known to many Americans, especially in the Northwest.

Born Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt (“Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain”) in 1840, Joseph the Younger led the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce “during General Oliver O. Howard's attempt to forcibly remove his band and the other "non-treaty" Indians to a reservation in Idaho. For his principled resistance to the removal, he became renowned as a humanitarian and peacemaker.” (More from this Wikipedia article)

This is Joseph Canyon, one of the winter homes of the Nez Perce. It’s believed Chief Joseph was born in a cave here.



We drove by the pristine morainal lake as we headed for the Wallowa Lake Tramway, which would take us on a very steep 4000-foot climb to the top of Mount Howard.

The ride costs $20 for adults, and takes 15 minutes to get up to the 8150-foot summit.

I have a few phobias, and of course, one of them is for heights. I clung tightly to the support pole in the middle of the gondola and did my best to keep my eight-year old from dashing from side to side. I had limited success as his enthusiasm and exuberance fueled his movements. The the little vestibule rocked, and sent me into palpitations. At that moment, I decided to NEVER get on a ski lift.

My teenage son, who adores skiing, rode with my daughter and her friend in a separate gondola. Far more composed than me, he took this picture of the lake through the slightly scratched windshield. (Still a pretty good shot, though!)