With 2021’s sweltering heat even in early July, we continued to look for camping at high elevation and near water. Believe it or not, Halfway, OR met our needs more than halfway.
HALFWAY AND FISH LAKE
Halfway, OR is “half way along” the route to Enterprise, OR via the dramatic Hells Canyon Scenic Byway. We took a detour from that route to climb into the mountains west of town to reach the Fish Lake campground. It was very quiet during the week (even on the 4th of July) so I’m guessing mostly locals use the area. Each spot had great lake access, of which, we took full advantage and again broke out the raft.
Hot summer days were good for reading, hammock naps, and paddling the lake. We did see some people fishing but never witnessed a catch.
Fish Lake
There was no cell signal at our campsite, but with the bikes we were able to ride to nearby Twin Lakes, an abandoned hilltop fire tower, and a location part way to town that gave us a few bars of service. The 20 mile ride was a good way to break up the week and Doug fit in some “danger” by ignoring all warning signs for a good pic of the Wallowa Mountains in the distance from the top of the tower.
HELL’S CANYON AND THE LOSTINE WILDERNESS
When laundry became a priority, we packed the RV and headed back out on the Hell’s Canyon Scenic Byway for the town of Joseph. Hells Canyon encompasses over 70 miles of the Snake River that flows from the Hells Canyon Dam to the Washington state line. It’s safe to say that most of Hell’s Canyon cannot be reached by car/RV and at the overlook, it’s easy to imagine that the land below is much the same as when it was occupied by the Nez Perce and Shoshone tribes, with little human interference.
Joseph, OR is one of those towns that’s small enough that every high school graduate was being honored along its main street, photos and all. There were a handful of restaurants, boutiques, the laundromat and an obligatory ice cream shop open. Its main drag is approximately 6 blocks long. Its sidewalks are clean, the buildings well maintained, and the workers were friendly.
We left in a good mood not realizing that a string of bad karmic events were headed our way
Downtown Joseph, OR
Exploring the Lostine Canyon (just SW of Enterprise), “we” hit a hidden stump while negotiating a tight turn in the first of two Lostine campgrounds. Doug spent the next morning performing some “field repairs” of a plastic panel behind the front bumper. Upon departure, adding insult to injury, we hit the RV’s retractable step on yet another hidden stump. This required some hammering to straighten out and for the next few months, standing on one leg and using the other foot to “help it up” each time retraction was needed.
The second Lostine campground was a more open/RV-friendly campground. Here we dipped our toes in the cool mountain stream and tried, unsuccessfully, to coax Bailey into a little swimming. Doug hiked 4 miles up (2,400 ft ascent) to Maxwell Lake (beautiful, but hard to enjoy due to swarms of hungry mosquitoes) for sunset views of the Wallowa Mountains behind the campground. When he arrived back at the RV much after dark, I realized that without cell signal, we hadn’t made a very good plan regarding what should be done if he hadn’t returned.
A small bridge lies just at the edge of the campground and the waterfall just beyond on the Maxwell Lake Trail is well worth the short hike.
We hiked to Hunter Falls, which was roaring, on our way out of the area.
Lostine Campground #2 
Maxwell Lake 
Maxwell Lake Trail 
Hunter Falls
PUSHING FOR IDAHO
We typically follow the rule of 3 – no more than 3 hours of driving and arrive at camp by 3pm but after a late start from Lostine, we decided to stop at Terminal Gravity Brewery in Enterprise, OR for some burgers. We rarely eat out, so this was a real treat!
Back on the road, we swooped through the curves with the setting sun exposing a fiery jumpsuit orange sky when karma slapped us yet again. An antelope and it’s baby came flying out of the brush right in front of us. We slowed to check for the animals but both had disappeared back over burmbs behind us. Although we’re still not sure, the hit to the front driver’s side bumper was so loud that the smaller antelope’s likely fate was pretty certain and I whimpered and sniffled longer than many would. We couldn’t have prevented the run in, but both the hit and not knowing the outcome bothered me a lot, as did the string of unfortunate events. Just a few days later, a deer kamakazied into the side of the RV on our way to Idaho bringing our not-so-grand total for the week to 2 stump jumps and 2 animals hit – before the carnage ceased. The second deer incident was just as difficult as the first. Now, driving at dusk always knots my stomach.
NEARING IDAHO
Our boondocking spot was a dirt parking lot near a sign noting “Bezona Water Access” – a put-in for the Grande Ronde River just to the north of the Oregon border. The picture below doesn’t do it justice…it was quite possibly the ugliest location we’ve stayed…but it could also be that my recollection is colored by the antelope we’d hit earlier that evening as well.
Doug loved eastern Oregon and we did visit some amazing locations, but with all the bad karma, I was happy the day we entered Idaho. I had hoped that somehow the portal into Idaho would require us to shed this bad karmic robe and it did.
Bezona Water Access
