Two summits, and then a steep "bump" at the bottom.

Another perfect day weather wise. From Ollokot CG there was a short downhill section on rough pavement before we started climbing again. Then it was a long climb to one summit, some fast downhill, and the another long climb. The first one was all pretty lush woods, but at the top of the second climb the trees got very thin. Looks like maybe a fire some years ago. Also pretty close to the tree line.

At the end of the Wallowa Mountain road was a nice green valley, and then a junction with a main road. One way went to Imnaha, which is the eastern most town in Oregon, and our way went to Joseph. But not before another climb, much steeper than anything we did in the mountains. It was now hot as well. Fortunately it was only a mile or so and then things leveld off. I stopped to take a lot of pictures but my lense was dirty and they were all foggy. The first horse I saw coming into Joseph was a Belgain. I saw no Appaloosas but later learned that none of the Nez Perce live here. The main tribe is in Idaho (where I passed through in 2010), but the decendents of the Wallowa band are on the Coleville reservation in northern Washington. More on this later.

When I got to town some of our other rides flagged me down at a burger joint on the corner, which had shade and nice cold milk shakes. I didn't need much prompting to stop and hang out for an hour or so. Then it was on out to the lake, which entailed a bit more climbing to get out of town, but then mostly flat along the lake. The views here were spectacular as well. The state park is on the far end of the lake tucked into the mountains. The group campsite was not thet attractive due to lack of shade, but I found a spot that would be shady later and it worked out okay. We would spend two nights here.

That evening we had a special gatering with our guests of honor Richard and Lindy Burgess. Some long time members had some good tails to tell of past tours.