The remote but luxurious retreat is a rare piece of private property within the state’s 360,000-acre Eagle Cap Wilderness.
The view during the second day of a five-day backpack to Minam River Lodge. The lodge is located in a designated wilderness area within Oregon’s 2.3-million-acre Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. By Dina Mishev May 10 The friendly pack of dogs gathered around the edge of Minam River Lodge’s pole barn has no idea what to make of square dancing, or of the 20 or so people doing it. The dogs, pets of lodge staff and guests, stuck close to their humans until the do-si-doing commenced.
We crossed the flats, which include the 2,000-foot-long grass runway that private pilots use, and walk to the river, where a tepee and bench hide in trees along the banks. There was no one else around. We sat, enjoying the feeling of remoteness and talking about how nice it was that it comes with a cabin that has a rain shower, crisp linens on a soft bed, a wood-burning stove and a front porch with rocking chairs. Only when the mosquitoes came out did we leave the river and head to the barn.
From its founding in 1950 until its sale in 2011, the lodge catered to hunters, who didn’t want or need amenities beyond a simple place to stay in this corner of the Wallowas, which is known for trophy-size elk and bighorn sheep. The hunting here was so good that hunters nicknamed the lodge “Mert’s Meat Locker,” after Mert Loree, who built and ran it with his wife Erma .Outside of hunting season, guests were often families looking for a rustic retreat.
The author heads for the Matterhorn’s summit. Much of the Wallowa Mountains, known as “the Alps of Oregon,” are in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. A local forest service supervisor eventually approved the use of explosives to mitigate the danger the trees posed to pilots landing and taking off.
It is understandable then that our three days at the lodge were spent mostly relaxing. The four of us played horseshoes every night before dinner and Derek and I played a couple of games of badminton. We went on mellow hikes and napped and read on the banks of the Minam River. When we got hot, we swam in the river, which is cold enough that the lodge uses it to keep its extra kegs of beer chilled, but not so cold that my lips ever turned blue.
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