Filling out permits at the Wallowa River Loop trailhead. 

Wallowa River Loop Trail sign.

From the edge of Aneroid Lake. 

Filling out permits at the Wallowa River Loop trailhead. 

Wallowa River Loop Trail sign.

From the edge of Aneroid Lake. 

Editor’s note: Explore contributor Gensheng Tian hiked the Wallowa River Loop Trail in August. This is the first of three installments.

It was 1:30 a.m. In my car, I followed the GPS, sipping coffee and listening to country music. I drove through the night to Joseph, Ore.

At daybreak, the high mountains, red and gold hues of sunrise and clouds, became realistic oil paintings. Wallowa Lake gleamed in the sunshine. Two Canada geese were playing leisurely on the lake.

I kept driving. The morning had broken.

Ying Chen came here yesterday and stayed in a cabin. Vipin Goel would come soon. They live in Spokane. I hadn’t met them yet; our interests and hobbies brought us together. We would do the Wallowa River Loop, backpacking for three nights and four days in northeast Oregon.

Cars were parked on both sides along Powerhouse Road by the Wallowa trailhead. The Douglas firs were tall and the morning was quiet. I parked my car and got out to do some stretching. I was exhausted. It was a long drive from Yakima to Wallowa. Several hikers walked happily toward the trailhead. A horse team was ready for their journey. It was 6:30 a.m. We would start to hike at 8.

“Hi, Vipin,” I said, “How was the driving?”

“Hello, Gensheng,” he said with a smile. “It was OK, you know?” He had on hiking shorts and a T-shirt. His hiking boots were worn out; he was a mountain man.

We hugged each other even though it was our first time meeting. I felt like he was an old friend.

Then Ying came. We greeted each other, too. I could tell Ying was a strong hiker from her posture. I can spot a strong hiker on the streets. They’ve been hiking in the mountains for years, and the way they walk is different from normal people.

I carried my heavy pack. It contained my tent, sleeping bag, two containers of propane, a stove and food.

We walked toward the trailhead. Vipin filled out our wilderness permit and Ying helped him tie the tag on his backpack. We took the east trail and started our epic adventure. It was Aug. 3, 2022.

Everyone was delighted and excited. Our waves of laughter along the trail fell into the deep canyon, gently flowing away with the Wallowa River.

Even though the trail went up gradually, a pack weighing more than 35 pounds is a heavy load and I was sweating. We took a short break at the Wallowa Falls Hydroelectric Project. I read the boards: “It was constructed in 1921 to provide electricity to the communities of Joseph, Enterprise, Lostine, and Wallowa. This system continues to supply power to the region today. From time immemorial, the presence of the Nez Perce is tied to this place. A bond so precious that our stories and beliefs honor all creatures, plants, water, and the stars as our relative.”

Just at that time, a horseback riding team of four female riders came to us.

“Hello, there! What a beautiful day!” Ying greeted them.

“Oh, hello you guys. Yes,” one of the riders answered.

“The horses are so happy,” Vipin added.

“Yes, they enjoy backpacking,” a young female rider replied.

The horses walked easily on the trail between the green bushes and flowers in the dense woods. They looked huge and the riders in helmets on their backs looked so small. It seemed that the horses carried nothing on their backs.

The horses were healthy, strong and happy and walked cozily with their heads moving up and down as their tails swiped away flies and mosquitoes. Seeing them reminded me of Western cowboy movies.

We hiked 6 miles with a 3,000-foot elevation gain. It took us over six hours to reach our campsite at Aneroid Lake. We left early to find the best campsite to set up tents.

“Let’s take a walk around the lake,” Ying said.

There were all kinds of flowers. The rich, red Indian paintbrushes, the yellow three-nerved daisies and the Fringed Grass of Parnassus touched my heart. The granite mountains and green lake were their neighbors and the adorable deer, blithe birds, twinkling stars and bright moon were their companions. What rich lives they had.

A group arrived to set up their tent. We greeted each other. In the mountains, everyone was jubilant and deferential.

We went back to our campsite. I put on my swimming shorts and water shoes and went to the lake to swim. Vipin joined me. He stood waist deep in the lake.

“Ah, ah,” he was shouting.” Ah, ah, ah, too cold!” He dared not to swim; he just stood there. People handle the cold differently. The water was too cold for him. Poor Vipin made me laugh. I kept on swimming and enjoyed it.

After a while, we went back to the tent. We had plenty of time and I felt content.

“Vipin, which part of India are you from?” I asked.

“The foot of the Himalayan Mountains,” Vipin answered proudly.

“No wonder you walk so fast,” Ying joked. “You’re a mountain goat!”

“I walked in the mountains every day there,” he grinned. “Talking about India, let me recite a poem:

‘Stray birds of summer come to my window to sing and fly away.

‘And yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fall there with a sigh.’”

Vipin was smiling with pride.

Aneroid Mountain quietly listened to our lively conversation. A hawk was soaring at the waist of the mountain. Fish were jumping in the peaceful lake.

The sun limped away behind the high mountains. Then twilight lingered. Everyone was yawning. The breeze was gentle, and the evening got chilly. Occasionally, a bird whistle broke the silence. Our food was hanging on the trees. I felt peaceful.

I crawled into my tent and managed to enter my sleeping bag and lay on the pad. I started an entry in my diary but was too tired to keep my eyes open and fell into dreamland.

Howling gusts like roaring surf woke me up. I listened quietly in my tent. It was getting fainter and fainter, disappeared, then it roared again. It was dark in the tent, and I felt a long sleep. I thought it was daybreak when in fact, it was just midnight.

I laid there for a while, unzipped my tent and crawled out. I was thrilled. The blazing sky was full of stars, like seeing a big city at night by plane in the sky.

I stood by my tent in the dark forest and looked at the sky. The stars were so close to me. I opened my arms and let my heart give them a big hug. What a beautiful and heavenly sky!

The natural beauty was not only in the daytime, but also at night. I could see so many stars, it was almost unbelievable. The urban night doesn’t feel real. Reality was here, in the mountains.

I couldn’t see my fingers in the darkness, but I seemed to reach the stars. A shooting star drew a shining line for a second, and as it disappeared I wondered where it was from. How could it suddenly just fade away?

• Gensheng Tian submits occasional columns to Explore. He is a card dealer at Legends Casino but his real business is hiking and backpacking. English is Tian’s second language.

Editor’s note: Explore contributor Gensheng Tian hiked the Wallowa River Loop Trail in August. This is the second of three installments.

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