OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Marshal:
anticipated,” he said.
Gardener these days
Continued from Page A1
Lifelong Wallowan
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
An Idaho family enjoys a hike atop Mount Howard on Saturday, June 5, 2021, after riding the
Wallowa Lake Tramway to the summit. From left are Seth and Mackenzie Bradshaw and their
kids Bodhi, Knox and Quincy.
Tram:
Continued from Page A1
“Back in the day, almost
the very fi rst year, a bull-
wheel bearing went out and
we had to evacuate three cab-
ins,” Lockhart said.
A bullwheel is the big
wheel that drives the cable,
easily visible at each terminal.
The scheave wheels that
support each cabin alone cost
about $1,000 each. Lockhart
didn’t know the cost of the
bullwheels.
“We have to keep track of
our rates to keep up on this,”
he said, adding that replac-
ing the entire tramway is
unlikely. “That’s probably
not feasible because of the
cash fl ow. So it’s important
that we do this maintenance.
We are the No. 1 attraction in
Wallowa County and there’s
a lot of people who factor that
into when they come to Wal-
lowa County. We’re fi nding
that out, as will any accom-
modation person will tell
you. It’s a common question
they get asked when making
reservations (for lodging).
Or, the chamber could tell
you that.”
Once, they had to evac-
uate the top because of high
winds.
“It’s all about safety, from
every operation we have
from the lift to food service
to everything else,” he said.
Evacuation is no easy task.
Under the seats of each car is
a cord that is used to let a rope
down to the ground and pas-
sengers get into harness to be
lowered to ground. Then they
either walk to the terminal or,
“if necessary, we bring a heli-
copter in,” Lockhart said.
He said the tram works
with local fi rst-responders
when necessary. But such
calls are rare.
“We haven’t had one in 20
years,” he said.
The only mishaps on the
tram have been minor inju-
ries suff ered, such as a rider
slipping upon getting into or
out of one of the cabins. He
said no loss/claim injuries
have been fi led in his time as
a tram owner.
One thing that tram riders
often wonder is how supplies
reach the summit, particu-
larly the Summit Grill. Out-
side are two large propane
tanks that would hardly fi t in
a cabin. Lockhart said there
is a roadway up the back side
of Mount Howard that comes
up near Ferguson Ridge.
Large items can be brought
up that way. Most supplies,
however, are brought up on
the tram via a “boxcar” — an
open, yellow car.
A road accessible only by
all-terrain vehicle provides
access to each of the towers
that carry the cable.
Improvements made
Most of the improvements
made by the current own-
ers have been about mainte-
nance, Lockhart said.
“Over the past three years,
we’ve done some extensive
remodeling,” he said, replac-
ing parts where needed.
“We started a very aggres-
sive maintenance program.
We’ve taken every assem-
bly off ,” Lockhart said, and
had a machine shop in Enter-
prise refurbish parts during
the off season.
“In addition to that, we’re
replacing all the wheels,”
he said. “Over two-thirds of
those will be done this year.”
They also have made
some additions to the attrac-
tion. When they bought it,
there was only the terminal
at the summit. Riders would
go up, hike around, enjoy the
view and ride back down. But
the current owners poured a
concrete slab, added a patio
and the Summit Grill.
The grill, Lockhart said,
has “Kind of a bistro menu.
We don’t want people to feel
they have to go someplace
else to eat, so we’re pretty
competitive.”
Improvements
considered
The owners also are con-
sidering additions they can
create. Already the tram does
some catering to skiers.
“We take people up in the
spring and they hike over to
East Peak and do a mountain-
eering-type of skiing,” Lock-
hart said.
In the 1990s, they consid-
ered adding ski runs down
the back of Mount Howard
that would end near Ferguson
Ridge Ski Area. However,
when they did a master plan
for the area — that would’ve
included the ski runs — they
got some local resistance.
That, and the fact that an
environmental impact state-
ment for the project would
cost $4 million — with no
guarantee it would pay off —
shelved the idea.
Lockhart hopes to be able
to add interpretive tours of
the mountaintop, including
the history of the moraines, if
they can fi nd the right person
to do the interpreting.
That could be happening
soon,” he said. “But that’s a
special person we’d have to
fi nd.”
There also has been dis-
cussion of campsites in the
area, but those would depend
on the markets, the economy
and what the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice says of the ideas, since
two-thirds of the tram is on
USFS land.
A lifelong Wallowan,
Larm is the third gener-
ation to live in his house.
He has fi ve kids from his
fi rst marriage who were
born while living there.
“I was born and raised
here,” he said. “I spent all
my life other than my four
years in the service here
and I really enjoy it.”
He said his father and
grandfather both had long
careers in Wallowa.
“My grandad used to be
the section foreman for the
railroad,” he said. “My dad
worked as a grader at the
sawmill until the mill went
out in ’61.”
When his mother died
in 1963, Larm’s father
worked at the school as a
janitor. He died in 1973.
Both parents died of heart
problems, but Larm’s
seems strong. But the mus-
cle disease has changed his
life unexpectedly.
“I ended up retir-
ing a lot earlier than I’d
These days he enjoys
gardening. He raises pole
beans, cabbage for sauer-
kraut, red beets to pickle
(his wife, Anita, doesn’t
like it, but her doctor rec-
ommended them), onions,
tomatoes, potatoes, car-
rots, Swiss chard and
spinach.
Larm had to put up a
deer fence because preda-
tors in the area have been
driving the deer into town.
“It’s a heck of a note to
raise your stuff and then
have the deer eat it,” he
said.
This year’s parade
This year’s Fourth of
July Parade will be back to
normal for Wallowa. Last
year, during the depth of
the coronavirus pandemic,
the city was not allowed by
the Oregon Department of
Transportation to close off
Highway 82 through town
for the parade. But that
didn’t stop feisty Wallowa.
They held an impromptu
parade that went down the
highway, across town to
the truck route, back to the
highway and around again.
This year, it’ll be the
normal route starting at
the football fi eld at 2 p.m.
and traveling down High-
way 82 — which serves as
Wallowa’s Main Street —
to Storey Street, where the
parade will take a left and
disband.
This year won’t be
Larm’s fi rst experience in
the parade. He recalls one
“bad experience” when he
was a child and his mom
made him a clown costume
— with no pockets. Some-
one was handing out long
sticks of bubble gum.
“Someone I thought
was a friend said he’d hold
it,” Larm said, but then the
“friend” showed his true
colors.
“He didn’t give it
back,” he said. “That’s one
of those things that sticks
in your mind.”
But he truly appreciates
the meaning of Indepen-
dence Day.
“I really honor the veter-
ans and what everybody’s
gone through to keep us
free,” he said. “I was glad
to be in the service.”
Local support
While the tram largely
survives on tourist dollars,
the owners don’t neglect
the locals who support it.
A planned “Business After
Hours” event for Wallowa
County Chamber of Com-
merce members is planned
soon, as is a Father’s Day
event for fi rst-responders.
Lockhart said they also want
to honor educators and others
who worked hard during the
coronavirus pandemic.
“They worked extra hard
here in Wallowa County, as
compared with what was
going on nationally,” he
said of the educators. “They
worked hard for our children
— we put them fi rst. There
may be a few other groups,
but there’s a limit as far as
what we can do. We can’t
ignore our businesspeople
who were at risk, but at least
they got some reward for
their endeavors. We just feel
we want to do something to
say thank you.”
The future?
Lockhart has hopes for the
future of the tram.
“There’s things we would
like to see happen,” he said.
“There’s a possibility some-
one besides me could think
(more) about winter sports.”
But for now, they just
want to keep improving
what’s there.
“We’ve been going 50
years and we’d like to add
a few more things,” he said.
“We don’t know what the life
of the lift is, so we’ll have to
see.”
NOBLE
GIVES US A GLIMPSE
OF THE
~James E. Faust
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