A10
Sports/Outdoors
wallowa.com
Photo contributed by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
First Day Hikes will be held New Year’s Day in 21 state parks across Oregon, including Cottonwood Canyon State Park.
State parks will kick 2017
off with First Day hikes
Wallowa County Chieftain
Celebrate New Year’s Day in the great
outdoors with one of 21 First Day Hikes
scheduled at state parks across Oregon,
including Emigrant Springs State Heritage
Area and Cottonwood Canyon State Park
in Eastern Oregon..
America’s State Parks and the Ore-
gon Parks and Recreation Department
are sponsoring First Day Hikes at partic-
ipating parks, where rangers or volunteers
will lead fun and educational outings for
people of all ages.
“This is us helping people have a little
fun and remember your parks are there for
you any time of year,” said Lisa Sumption,
director of the Oregon Parks and Recre-
ation Department. “Bundle up and enjoy
your first walk of the year with a state park
ranger.”
Day-use parking fees will be waived
for all visitors participating in one of the
First Day Hikes. Hikers should plan for in-
clement weather, dress appropriately and
bring binoculars for wildlife viewing.
At Emigrant Springs, visitors will gath-
er at 11 a.m. for a snowshoe hike begin-
ning at the Oregon Trail kiosk west of the
park entrance. Emigrant Springs is located
at the summit of the Blue Mountains, near
Meacham off Interstate 84.
At Cottonwood Canyon, park manager
Tom Peterson will lead a hike down the
Pinnacles Trail along the John Day River.
The trail runs easy to moderate, Peterson
said, though he expects temperatures for
the day will be at or below freezing.
Peterson said he will discuss historic
settlements of the area, and hikers could
see wildlife including osprey, river otters,
bighorn sheep and deer. Cottonwood Can-
yon is located on Highway 206 between
Condon and Wasco.
For more information on other hikes
around the state, visit the Oregon State
Parks website at www.oregonstateparks.
org.
A horse packer named Nora
By J.R. Groupe
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
Nora Hawkins grew up in Wallowa
County in a packing family. Her father,
Meryl, began packing with horses and
mules as a high school student for Arnold
Shaffer at Lapover Pack Station on the
Lostine River.
Her mother’s father owned and oper-
ated Red’s Horse Ranch. His name was
Red Higgins and he was a colorful and
respected operator. I know — I used to
see him on occasion. Nora’s mother
knew her way around a diamond hitch, a
mantie pack and all other aspects of run-
ning a dude ranch.
Mr. and Mrs. Meryl Hawkins bought
Lapover Pack Station as a young cou-
ple. Their three daughters grew up in the
business and learned it well. As young
ladies they spread their wings and hired
on with Ed Millar at Wallowa Lake Pack
Station. In the 1990s Barry Cox bought
out their parents and changed the name to
Del Sol Wilderness Adventures. All three
girls worked for him at times.
Growing up in La Grande and be-
ginning packing as a teenager, I have
heard the legends of Meryl Hawkins for
my whole life. Though our paths never
crossed it was fun interviewing him on
the phone recently. I was able to pene-
trate his modest persona to learn a few
facts of how legends are initiated. He
began packing alone as a junior high stu-
dent. As a very young man he packed for
the concession at Wallowa Lake, Troy,
Red’s Horse Ranch and Lapover. He was
able to buy out Arnold Shaffer at around
22 years of age and ran Lapover Pack
Station for a couple of decades.
While at Lapover, life could be color-
ful. Meryl generally ran about 50 horses
to accomplish the wide variety of outfit-
ter chores. Notable jobs included haul-
ing fire hoses, powder and dynamite and
packing 22-foot-long steel re-bar. The re-
bar was for the headgate at Minam Lake,
Submitted by John Groupe
Nora Hawkins saddles a horse this
summer before leading a group into the
Eagle Cap Wilderness.
which is still operational.
He had a high-profile neighbor who
often helped with packing. One time
Meryl was short-handed so the neighbor
anonymously packed a group into Mi-
nam Lake. Successfully completing the
trip, Supreme Court Justice William O.
Douglas was beaming with pride at his
$5 tip.
I ran into Nora a few days ago while
she was on the job with Del Sol. She
was adjusting saddles for ten dudes and
instructing them on basic horsemanship.
Her demeanor was efficient, reassuring
and comforting to the bewildered dudes.
We saw her the next day with several of
her pupils enjoying a ride through the
Lakes Basin of the Eagle Cap Wilder-
ness. “Classy in the saddle” would be
overblown but nonetheless they looked
relaxed and were enjoying the magnifi-
cent scenery. Obviously good students
except the two with mosquito nets cover-
ing their heads.
Nora and her coworkers spend most
of their time wrangling livestock, trans-
porting them to trailheads and packing
equipment and supplies into and out of
the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Their job de-
scription includes some trail work and
setting up camps, and it all must be done
rain or shine.
Nora used this mode of employment
to put herself through college. She has
earned a three-year Bachelor of Science
degree as a licensed midwife. Having just
completed a two-year internship, she will
soon enter the workforce in western Ore-
gon. In a couple years she plans to return
to the county she loves and hang up her
own shingle.
Like all young people, she had to try a
couple of things. One summer she hired
on as a packer in Alaska. Another time
she went to the Antarctic. On that trip she
became acquainted with and was hired
as a model by Duluth Trading Compa-
ny. They use only real working people
as models for their outdoor wear. Nora is
one of about a dozen ladies who promote
their dry goods. They travel to where she
is working and photograph her in Dulu-
th jeans, flannel shirts and belts. She has
been on their payroll for five years.
While Duluth Trading Company is
most likely not going to get into mid-
wife apparel, they will still use Nora’s
recreational packing and ranch work for
backdrops. It is enjoyable seeing her in
catalogs and on the internet promoting
Duluth products. Her career as a Wallowa
County midwife and an international real
working model will be fun to watch.
■
John Groupe is a retired veterinarian
and author.
SCOREBOARD
DEC. 27-29
Joseph at Damascus Christian, 12:30
p.m.
Enterprise opponents to be determined
Joseph at Echo, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, JAN. 6
SATURDAY, JAN. 7
La Grande Optimist Tourney,
Wallowa boys and girls competing
DEC. 29-DEC. 30
Boys basketball
Girls basketball
Girls basketball
THURSDAY, DEC. 29
Les Schwab Shootout, Pendleton
Enterprise opponents to be determined
Joseph at Echo, 7:30 p.m.
Pine Eagle at Wallowa, 7:30 p.m.
Weston McEwen at Enterprise, 7:30
p.m.
Joseph at Wallowa, 4 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 5 p.m.
Boys and girls basketball
Girls basketball
Joseph at Damascus Christian, 11
a.m.
DEC. 30-JAN.1
Boys basketball
Les Schwab Shootout, Pendleton
Boys basketball
Girls basketball
Weston-McEwen at Enterprise, 5 p.m.
SATURDAY, JAN. 7
Boys basketball
Joseph at Wallowa, 5 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 7:30 p.m.
December 28, 2016
Wallowa County Chieftain