Page 12A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 13, 2016
MINAM: Expects
to open next spring
Continued from 1A
the necessary power.
The cost will be steep — roughly $500 a night to
rent a large cabin — and that does not include the cost
of getting there. Ellis expects he will help many of
his customers charter a plane from Enterprise, Joseph
or /a *rande to Ày into the lodge. See 3age 1& for
more on landing on a backcountry airstrip).
Others will hump it. The closest trailhead is Moss
Springs, about 8.5 miles away, and some will travel
the route on horseback while others will use their
own two feet. For the more economical traveler,
Minam River Lodge will offer raised platform beds
with linens, in a teepee or wall tent, for roughly
$100 a night. That allows customers to make use of
communal showers and a wood¿red hot tub.
Ellis imagines the lodge as a place where both
types of people will meet, converse, dine together
and enjoy the natural world arrayed in front of them.
The Minam River can be seen from the currently-un-
der-construction deck, water that both threatened
salmon and bull trout call home. Hunters will be
another main customers base since they have nearby
access to elk, bear, cougar, deer and more.
Ellis envisions visitors forking over $500 a night
to Ày in from places like 3ortland or %oston and stay
for a week, while
others will arrive
sweaty and hungry
and looking for a
place to rest their
head for the night.
%ut ¿rst they¶ve
got to build the
thing.
Isaac
Trout
has served as an
on-site construction
superintendent,
living and working
at the site for much
of the year. An avid
— Ben Gates,
outdoorsman,
he
UP Construction
used his bow to
bag a mammoth elk
within hiking distance from the property last year.
He said the opportunity to live and work in such
a beautiful, wild place has been incredible, as is
building “something that will be historic.”
It hasn¶t been easy. Trout and *ates have had to
¿gure out how to erect their lodge without the use
of cranes and lifts and other bene¿ts of modern
construction. Getting the main joist in place with just
a few hands and little more than an ATV took some
planning and ingenuity.
%ut that has brought another kind of bene¿t.
“It has forced us to plan in the way that contractors
always want to do, but never have time for,” said Gates.
There is no running to a hardware store for an extra
box of nails or sheet of plywood — and the waste of
hours that entails. Everything had to be accounted for
and planned in order to get rigged up for a helicopter
ride and then its ¿nal place on the construction site.
“:e¶ve been pretty good and pretty lucky,” Gates
said. “:e don¶t have a lot of waste and we don¶t have
much extra.”
Sweyn Wall, of the U.S. Forest Service recreation
program, said the lodge has been good neighbors with
the Forest Service. There are a few other inholdings
within the 361,000-acre wilderness area, including a
few in the upper Minam area.
Wall said %arnes and the lodge have
been “partners on a variety or projects, and
we consider ourselves good neighbors.”
He said there are important issues that the lodge and
USFS must stay on the same page on, especially the
water system that originates on Forest Service land
and the sewage system, as well as how they operate
along a Wild & Scenic River.
%ut Wall sees bene¿ts to inholdings and commer-
cial operations such as the Minam River Lodge.
“One of the main challenges we face as an agency
is trying to keep folks vested,” said Wall. “The more
we can encourage people to use and appreciate
wilderness, the stronger the argument we have for it.”
The construction project is halfway complete, and
crews expect it to be open next spring. It is unknown
if the lodge will open year-round, but when it is oper-
ating it can house up to 30 guests and will employ
11-12 people full-time. Other contractors will see
bene¿ts from the business, including pilots and
horseback out¿tters who will help ferry and entertain
guests.
The massive project is a ¿nancial risk, Ellis
admitted. %ut once people see the view from the lodge
— and the lodge itself — he thinks they will have a
hard time leaving, especially after they contemplate
that 8.5-mile hike back out to civilization.
———
Tim Trainor can be reached at ttrainor@eastore-
gonian.com or 541-966-0835.
“It has forced
us to plan in
the way that
contractors
always want to
do, but never
have time for.”
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Solar panels on the greenhouse power fans inside the structure. The lodge has no external power supply and will rely
on solar power and generators for electricity.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Jacob Stevens of Elgin strips the bark off logs that will be
used to rebuild the barn at the Minam River Lodge.
In addition to the lodge, guests will be able to rent cabins
during their stay.
Lodge hosts Labor
Day open house
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Jeff Spath of Gaston watches as A.J. Plummer of Elgin uses an excavator to remove a
boulder from the old barn at the Minam Lodge in the Eagle Cap Wilderness area east
of La Grande.
The Minam River Lodge
will host a community potluck
and offer a sneak peek of the
new lodge over Labor Day
weekend.
The property will be
open Sunday afternoon until
Monday afternoon for the
event. It will feature roast
pig and entertainment by the
Minam &onstruction Team
Jug %and, as well as an
opportunity to see and hear
about the construction project.
Guests are asked to
register for the event at www.
theminamlodge.com, and are
invited to bring a side dish if
possible.
&ing sites will be
available by the river, but
no lodge facilities will be
available.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The finished interior of one of the cabins at the Minam
Lodge east of La Grande.
Daniel Iacob of Moscow, Idaho, and Cassandra Mohr of
Enterprise cut pieces of wood for roofing materials at a
mobile sawmill while rebuilding the Minam River Lodge.
P E N D L E T O N R O U N D -U P
C O W M IL KIN G
3234 S.W. Nye Pendleton, OR
Join us at 5 pm on
August 18 th for our for our annual
ROUND-UP BBQ!
ROUND-UP QUEEN & COURT
HAPPY CANYON PRINCESSES
MAIN STREET COWBOYS
SIDE SADDLERS
GOOD FOOD
GREAT ENTERTAINMENT WITH
VENUES INSIDE AND OUT.
Local entries for Cow Milking will be taken Monday, August 15 th at
the Round-Up office beginning at 8:30 a.m. A Social Security
number and medical insurance is required on all contestants. Entry
fees must be paid at the time you enter.
COW MILKING
1. First 30 paid teams
2. Mail and phone orders accepted
3. $200 per team
4. Proof of medical insurance
on all team members
The Round-Up Association reserves the
right to refuse entry to any team.
For more information call 541-276-2553
or stop by the Round-Up & Happy Canyon
Office in the Hall of Fame Bldg.
1114 SW Court
Pendleton, OR
TM