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Spring in Oregon was wet. That’s relevant here for a couple reasons. When planning out our early summer we put a couple river trips on the calendar. We had already cancelled a trip on the John Day due to high flows, and as we approached our dates for the Grande Ronde flows were similarly high. What could we do instead? We decided to still head to the northeast corner of the state, but we morphed our plans into a road trip.

The road trip looked appealing for the same reason the float did not – lots of spring rain might have the wildflowers at their peak. We were right on that account. The flowers during the entire trip were stunning.

Our first day was spent travelling the crest of the Blue Mountains on and off the Scenic Byway. There were entire meadows blue with camas. It’s hard to take a picture that would do it justice, but that didn’t stop me from trying.

And the diversity of flowers was stunning. Below is just a sampling.

Day two was a hike into the Wallowas. Yes it was the end of June, and yes, our hike came to an early end due to significant snow drifts. Still, any day in the Wallowas is a good day. I guess we’ll be going back for the view of Eagle Cap in a later month next time.

Day three we changed environments once again, this time to the lower Imnaha River, which was significantly warmer and drier than the previous two days. The river hike was nice, but we could have done without the abundant poison oak lining the trail.

We followed the Imnaha all the way to the headwaters after our hike and ended up at a beautiful overlook above Hells Canyon. The meadow of wildflowers was a great spot to spend our last night. Be sure to view the multiple images below by using the arrows to advance the “slides”

After a stunning sunset and a star filled night we were up facing the drive across the state to home. The northeast tour of wildflowers, hikes, and backcountry byways is one I won’t forget.

And once again, for the “rest of the story” please watch the video below of this trip. (and don’t forget to subscribe to our channel for upcoming content!)