Page 8C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Wallowa braces for annual invasion of tourists
By PAUL WAHL
Wallowa County Chieftain
Mary Wolfe was one of
dozens of business owners
in and around Wallowa
Lake getting ready for the
onslaught of tourists this
week.
Wolfe, the owner of
Mad Mary’s in downtown
Joseph, and her partner,
Jeff Middleton, have been
preparing the former restau-
rant adjacent to her shop to
become an ice cream parlor.
“We operated the restau-
rant for several years, but it
just became too much,” said
Wolfe, a fifth-generation
Wallowa County native.
“This year, we decided to
open Mad Mary’s Ice Cream
Station.”
Umpqua Dairy in Rose-
burg will provide the ice
cream. Wolfe said she hasn’t
decided yet which 20 of
the available flavors will be
offered.
In addition to its checker-
board floor, the space is also
home to a variety of collect-
ibles courtesy of Middleton,
including a Phillips 66 gas
pump from 1936 and an
Indian motorcycle.
Across the street, Becky
Rushton is preparing for a
busy summer. She and her
husband, Scott, own Outlaw
Restaurant and Saloon, in
addition to two lodging busi-
nesses.
Becky,
president
of
the Joseph Chamber of
Commerce, is anticipating
a busy summer, “better than
last year.”
“There have been a lot of
positive signs already, she
added, noting the scheduling
of two new community
events in the area and at least
one new business, a hot air
balloon concession.
Downtown Joseph busi-
nesses will have one final
opportunity to participate in
a cleanup event Wednesday.
The previously scheduled
event was rained out.
On the shores of Wallowa
Lake, summer is beginning to
make an appearance after one
of the worst winters in recent
memory.
The smell of campfires
has begun wafting through
Wallowa Lake State Park as
staff and volunteers work to
assure those occupying the
200 campsites and two yurts
are given the royal treatment.
EO Media Group photos by Paul Wahl
ABOVE: Kayaks await visiting tourists at the Wallowa Lake Marina. LEFT: Eric Post,
an employee of the Wallowa Lake Tram, assists some of the first passengers of the
season riding up the Mt. Howard on Saturday.
NEW EVENTS FOR 2017
• Pudget Sound Antique Airplane Tour
Forty vintage or classic planes will roar into Joseph
Airport July 10. The visitors will be on hand 10 a.m. to
noon, and the public is invited to come out and see the
planes.
A barbecue with live music is planned 5:30 p.m. along
with a raffle for rides in vintage aircraft. The event is
hosted by the Northeast Oregon Aviation Foundation.
Around the corner, the
150-horsepower
electric
motor that drives the 19,300-
foot haul rope at the Wallowa
Lake Tram began churning
visitors to the top of Mt.
Howard Saturday.
“There’s a lot more snow
up there than usual, but we’re
ready to go,” said Michael
Lockhart, president of the
company that operates the
tram.
Constructed in 1970, it is
the steepest vertical lift for
a four-passenger gondola
in North America, rising
roughly 4,000 feet.
Lockhart said the tram
will operate weekends only in
• Back Country Bash
Three alternative country acts will take the stage at
the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Grounds Aug. 5, part of
the first-ever Back Country Bash. Cody Canada and the
Departed will be headlining. Gates open at 3 p.m. and
music begins at 4 p.m. A beer garden and food vendors
will be available.
Tickets are $40 and are available at backcountrybash-
joseph.com. The event is presented by the Chief Joseph
Days Rodeo Committee.
May and then move to daily
treks in June.
Joseph Branch Railriders
also
opened
Saturday,
ferrying passengers by
pedal-powered vehicles from
Joseph to Enterprise and
beyond.
Near the tram, the staff at
Eagle Cap Chalets has been
busy learning to operate a
new coffee machine, which
is the centerpiece for the
operation’s coffee shop.
“Everything is ready,”
said
manager
Joshua
Marchlewski.
A number of rooms have
been remodeled during the
winter and bookings have
been strong.
The business also offers
a miniature golf course and
a concessions stand. The
sound of go-karts racing their
way around the track greeted
visitors at Wallowa Lake
Karts Saturday. Testing of the
vehicles was in full swing.
Proprieter Greg Jarman
paused from his lawn trim-
ming to say he was looking
forward to a great summer.
Besides go-karting, there is a
mini golf course, an arcade,
a basketball court, a sand
volleyball court, a ping-pong
table and a horseshoe pit,
among other amenities.
Most excited about the
start of the tourist season is
Jarman’s Great Dane Conan.
“He loves the tourists,”
Jarman noted. “He can’t wait
for them to get here.”
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
Barrett’s Penstemon a
rare and endangered plant
By BRUCE BARNES
For the East Oregonian
Name: Barrett’s Penstemon
Scientific name: Penstemon
barrettiae
A few folks reading this will
know Barrett’s Penstemon does
not grow in the Blue Mountains. It
was briefly prominent in Oregon’s
history. The pant is named for
Almeta Barrett, who discovered
the plant in the early 1880s when
living in Hood River. The name
Penstemon refers to the flowers
having five stamens, even though
one of them does not produce
pollen.
This is a spectacular rare plant
listed as endangered by the federal
government, and at one point caused
concern when a second powerhouse
of Bonneville Dam was proposed.
That powerhouse was to be built
right on or near a then-newly
discovered location of the plant.
It was previously known only in a
narrow strip between Hood River
and Mosier on both sides of the
Columbia. Botanists collected seeds
and successfully grew the plant near
Mosier and on the cliffs above the
powerhouse, avoiding a delay in
construction, which was completed
in 1982. Since then, several new
sites with the plant have been found
in the gorge, often growing out of
cracks in rock cliffs.
Barrett’s Penstemon is a small
shrub about 15-20 inches high and
up to 5 feet in diameter, with woody
branches spreading along the
ground and mostly hidden by the
upturned flowering stems. The ever-
green oval leaves stay on the plants
through winter, and are gray-green
and leathery. The flowers are bright
Photo by Bruce Barnes
Barrett’s Penstemon, Penstemon
barrettiae
purple, trumpet-shaped, and about
1½ inches long. They are crowded
on single ascending stems, and tend
to all face the same direction.
As far as I know, all of the pants
in the genus Penstemon are showy.
There are 32 species in Northeast
Oregon, and well over 200 species
in the western U.S., and many in
Canada and Mexico. There is also
an American Penstemon Society,
which has held its annual meeting in
Walla Walla to have an opportunity
to see the many species we have in
the Blue Mountains.
Where to find: There is an estab-
lished planting at the north end of
the I-84 Mosier intersection right
next to the highway, that is just past
the peak of its blooming.
For a comparison, next weeks’
article will feature a similar
Penstemon that is in the Blue
Mountains.
Land a lunker? Shoot a trophy?
Take a great picture of the mountains?
Email a photo of your outdoor adventures to ttrainor@eastoregonian.com
and we’ll publish it on this page. Call Tim at 541-966-0835 for information.
Photo contributed by Mike Morehead
Deerspotting
A deer stands in the fog in the Blue Mountains near La Grande. The photographer captured
the picture while hunting for mushrooms.
BRIEFLY
Free fishing weekend
coming June 3-4
PENDLETON — Free
Fishing Weekend is coming
Saturday, June 3 and Sunday,
June 4 to Oregon. That means
no fishing licenses or tags —
including the Columbia River
Basin Endorsement — are
required to fish, crab or clam
anywhere across the state.
“Free Fishing Weekend is
a great opportunity for friends
and families to get out and
enjoy a day or two of fishing,”
said Mike Gauvin, recreational
fisheries manager for the Oregon
Department of Fish & Wildlife.
“Lakes and ponds are fully
stocked, rivers and streams are
open for trout, and don’t forget
about the coast for crabbing and
clamming.”
Though no licenses or tags will
be required, all other regulations
do still apply including closures,
bag limits and size restrictions.
Free Fishing Weekend also
coincides with State Parks Day
on Saturday, June 3, with free
camping and day use at state
parks across Oregon.
For new anglers, ODFW and
sponsors will be hosting Free
Fishing Weekend events with
volunteers on hand to provide
equipment and assistance. Events
in northeast Oregon include:
• 203 Pond, Baker City, 9 a.m.
to noon
• Marr Pond, Enterprise, 9
a.m. to 1 p.m.
• McHaley Pond, Prairie City,
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information, visit
the ODFW website at www.dfw.
state.or.us.
Man survives 1,000-
foot fall into crater
UNION CREEK (AP) — A
man has survived a roughly
1,000-foot fall into the Crater
Lake caldera.
The Mail Tribune reports a
22-year-old had been rescued by
helicopter and taken to a nearby
hospital Sunday.
Crater Lake National Park
spokeswoman Marsha McCabe
says the man fell over the rim
and tumbled into the crater. She
says park rangers had to rappel
roughly 600 feet into the caldera
just to spot the man.
The extent of his injuries had
not been immediately known.
How he fell also remains unclear,
but McCabe had said she
believes slippery conditions on
the rim played a role.