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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2016)
LIFESTYLES Visit John Fogerty’s old home/3C Explore a mansion in Astoria/4C WEEKEND, AUGUST 13-14, 2016 Out of the Vault: Fire destroys fl our mill/6C Staff photo by E.J. Harris Minam River Lodge owner Barnes Ellis unloads supplies off a plane at the Minam River Lodge airstrip. All supplies for the lodge must be fl own in, often from La Grande or Enterprise. By TIM TRAINOR Ƈ East Oregonian M ost people reach the Minam River Lodge by air. 3ilots gXide small planes, oXt¿ tted Zith oversi]ed tires, that alloZ them to toXch doZn in deep-rXtted, Xneven landing strips. They stay Ior the ZeeNend or MXst Ior breaNIast. ,t¶s a 10-minXte À ight Irom La Grande, a little longer Irom Enterprise. %Xt Zhat the À ight lacNs in length, it maNes Xp Ior Zith scenery. The WalloZa-Whitman National )orest spreads oXt beloZ, roaded and logged and beaXtiIXl, Xntil it hits the Eagle Cap Wilderness. There it becomes less roaded and logged and even more beautiful. The Minam River is a straight chute running northeast, Zater dropping from its source in the mountains doZn a high canyon toZard the toZn of Minam and the river¶s conÀ uence Zith the WalloZa. It’s not an easy place to land a plane. The canyon is a tight one, and the 2,000-foot-long airstrip begins a stone’s throZ from the river. It doglegs right and pilots try to ¿ rst maNe contact Zith the ground on the right Zheel, letting the plane bounce a time or tZo on its Zay toZard three-point contact Zith the ground. Most parN their plane ne[t to an open-faced barn that serves as the hangar. It is ¿ lled Zith a tractor, nails, barrels of fuel and chopped Zood. At the top, a hand-painted sign reads: Minam Regional Airport elevation 3,600 feet. Not all arrive by plane, hoZever. Some hop on horsebacN at Moss Springs Trailhead, outside Cove, and ride roughly . miles. 2thers throZ on a pacN and ZalN the same trail. No one arrives by car. There are no roads. The Minam River Lodge is a relic, its 127 acres purchased by Mert Loree in 1946 to serve as a base camp for hunting e[cursions into the WalloZa Mountains. With his Zife, Erma, the Lorees built a lodge, barn and Zashrooms from 1950-1951. Horses and mules brought in the lumber. The Lorees poured concrete septic tanNs and built a Zater system. 2ver the ne[t half-century, intermittent construction added cabins and outbuildings. But the lodge’s remote location made it hard to maintain. Erosion and old age began to ZorN aZay at the buildings. The Zhole comple[ fell into disrepair and Zas sold at auction in 2011. It has been closed all year for a multi-million dollar reconstruction. )or more on that process, see today’s 3age 1A. Ne[t year, it Zill reopen as a different Nind of lodge. Area in UMATILLA 82 204 82 LL A . Joseph MO 84 Enterprise OW er nd eR 3 WA 82 Elgin iv Mina m R FOREST Grand e R o NATIONAL Wallowa Wallowa detail R. ORE. UN 237 IN S Site of new Minam River Lodge Wallowa Lake TA La Grande 350 EAGLE CAP WILDERNESS WALLOWA- N 10 miles WHITMAN 237 84 203 NATIONAL FOREST EO Media Group graphic More online For more photos and video of the landing at Minam River Lodge visit www.eastoregonian.com Staff photos by E.J. Harris ABOVE: The Minam River runs through the 127-acre property where the Minam River Lodge is being rebuilt. BELOW: Wooden slabs mark a trail that runs along the Minam River near the Minam River Lodge construction site east in the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
