Trip Report - Wenaha River
I made it out for my first backpacking trip of the season last weekend. I was originally planning on a trip to the Coeur D'Alene National Forest, but the weather forecast had lows of 32 F at night. I was asking a coworker about his experience on that trail and what elevation the snowpack was at, and he mentioned the Wenaha River as a good early season option. I had glanced at it a few times in one of my hiking guidebooks, but hadn't seriously considered it this year. After looking more closely and calculating drive time, I decided this was the winner. I had only made one trip out to the Blue Mountains in Oregon (previously documented here) in Eagle Cap Wilderness. The Wenaha is part of a separate National Forest - the Umatilla - but in the same vicinity. It is a wild and scenic river, and goes through the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness Area.
DW was able to only work a half day on Friday so I could get out of town by 1:00. The forecast had changed a bit later in the week and they were now predicting 35% chance of rain. I figured that was fine, I have good rain gear, and I might miss the storm anyway.
The drive through SE Washington and NE Oregon was stunning and I hadn't been through these corners before. I was starting to get a bit concerned about the weather as I pulled over at some scenic overlooks along the way.
Nonetheless, I was feeling good on the open road, enjoying the scenery, and blasting some great music. I arrived at the trailhead around 5:30 and it after getting a few short showers while driving, it looked like the storm had passed. I slathered on the sunscreen and hit the trail in high spirits. It was an amazing place and not quite like anything I experienced before. Fairly arid, but also very green and lush along the canyon walls. The trailhead starts at the confluence of the Grand Ronde and Wenaha Rivers. The elevation starts at around 1,900 feet and slowly increases as you travel deeper in the wilderness.
After about a half hour of sunshine and great weather, the clouds started rolling in again and I felt a few drops. I figured I should take out my rain shell and backpack cover just in case. I'm glad I did because it started dumping. I made it to the first potential campsite a few miles in around 7:00 and looked around at some different spots. The rain started coming down hard again and I realized I probably wasn't going to hike another couple miles to the next backcountry site. I quickly got my tent out and set it up. Unfortunately it wasn't quick enough. The 45-60 seconds that it took to get the rainfly on pretty much soaked the tent, which meant I had water dripping through for the next 12 hours. In hindsight I realized I should have just waited for the storm to pass. I came to this conclusion after setting up my tent, and waited to unload the rest of the gear. Standing in the rain, very wet but protected with rain gear, while the rain cover did it's job keeping everything else dry in my bag.
Typically I grab a tarp from the back of my vehicle to use as a footprint for the tent. Forgot to do that, and that was a major mistake. The rain eventually stopped and I got my air mattress and sleeping bag set up. Unpacked my gear and had a simple dinner of nuts and a Lara bar. Unfortunately the ground was pretty wet, water was dripping in, and everything was a bit damp. I was also camped on a river bar that had been heavily damaged by forest fires. It was hard enough finding a decent tent site without proximity to hazard trees, but I realized there were no good options to hang a bear bag.
I put on some warm clothes, opted to just keep my food in the tent with me, and read for a while. My night didn't go well and I wasn't in a great headspace. I was cold, wet, and slightly paranoid about bears which is very unusual for me. The next morning the sun was shining and I had to strategize my route. I thought about doing a 20 mile trip, which would require another 6-7 miles on Saturday, and then a 10 mile hike out and long drive on Sunday. My tent and some of my gear was still wet, so i decided I would just leave it there to dry out, camp here another night, and do a long day hike.
This ended up being a wise choice, because the bridge at one of the creek crossings 6 miles in had burned in a wildfire. I talked to another hiker who said the water was up to her hips and not fordable. I did see a couple older guys on horse that seemed to make it across.
Saturday went much better. The sun was out, but I got an early start and hiked in cool weather taking in the scenery. About 15 minutes into the hike I saw three deer fording the Wenaha. A good start to the day! If you look closely you can see them.
The wildfire had torn though much of the canyon, but it was still active with birds and other wildlife:
The wildflowers were popping and I was in much better headspace now:
The fact that I got turned around at the 6-mile mark with the raging creek was a blessing in disguise. I had a long leisurely lunch and time to read and journal near the river. It was still late morning and I had a whole day to myself. While hiking back I saw a small river bar with a trail. It lead to an amazing little spot, right across from a heavily vegetated canyon wall. The river bar had some sand, and a nice spot for a small tent. I thought briefly about going back to my camp, coming back here, and setting up. It didn't make a lot of sense though, and I figured the better choice was to spend 3-4 hours chilling here, reading, making some tea, and enjoying the river.
I brought Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic with me to help prompt some ideas about creative endeavors to pursue on our international adventures. It was an easy read, and helped reframe a couple cognitive distortions in my professional, rather than my creative life. As I was reading I watched a small bird flying back and forth from the canyon wall, seeming doing a small dance. I realized after a few minutes it had babies in the cracks of the canyon wall, and was working constantly to feed them. After about an hour I looked up and saw a large Canadian Goose perched on a rock staring at me. I looked at the picture posted above, that I had taken when I first arrived, and sure enough she had been there the whole time. A nice reminder how oblivious I can be.
Anyway, it was an inspiring afternoon after a somewhat humbling evening the day before. I packed up and headed back to camp to enjoy the last few hours of daylight there. Just before dusk a woman and her young son who was probably about four, came down the trail and asking if I knew of any camping spots. Lucky for them I had scoped out the river bar pretty thoroughly by this point and was able to show them the best spot. Very cool to see a young mother taking her son out into the backcountry.
I packed up early the next day and enjoyed a leisurely hike out. Grateful for a successful trip in a beautiful area that I'd never seen, and a bit humbled by mother nature.