Hike to Mirror Lake

The hike to Mirror was our first time in the Wallowa Mountains of Northeastern Oregon. The Wallowas were heavily glaciated, making a third of the hike have a near zero slope. The trail to Mirror Lake is about 12 kilometers of a magnificent landscape that reminds me of walking through Glacier or Yosemite.

River Crossing

As with most trailheads there is a parking fee and a self issue wilderness pass at the Two Pan trailhead. The beginning of the Lostine trail has a moderate ascent to this point then levels out till the next marker. The river crossing as seen in the image has a well built bridge; however, Finn was a little unsure about crossing.

Switchbacks

Slightly before this marker and a little ways after as seen on the map is the largest switchback section of the whole trail. We found several signs of horses, so as always keep yourself aware of your surroundings especially in this steep rocky switchback sections.

Halfway There

This point is the beginning of the sweet waking section. It is pretty flat for about 2 kilometers beyond this marker on the map. To our surprise this was our first glimpse of Eagle Cap. Finn was happy in the change of scenery as well.

Place along the way

Even though it was flat, Eagle Cap looked so far away. Finn was ready set up camp. If you look at the image the tree covered rise just below Eagle Cap (the peak) is the last ascent to Mirror lake. I was hoping to see some wildlife, but there was a lot people on the tail, do to the eclipse and all that.

Almost There

With the Mirror Lake in site it was time to find a place to set up camp which should be easy, but everyone and their friends decide to come up to Mirror Lake. So we decided to truck on a little further, but it was worth it.

Finn started to trail behind he was so tired but did great considering it was a 8 mile hike.

Worth It!