Cruisers’ Rendezvous — Wallowa State Park, OR; July 16-21, 2017

This summer we had our second annual Caribbean Cruisers Rendezvous; this time in beautiful Wallowa State Park, near Joseph, OR, and just south of  Wallowa Lake, the largest of several glacial cirque lakes in the area. The lake was formed by repeated periods of glaciation that began some 3 million years ago and ended about 15,000 BC. The glaciers formed high in the Wallowa Mountains around Glacier Lake and moved down the East and West Fork of the Wallowa River.  The lake is 3.48 miles long and has a maximum depth of 321 feet.  The northern end of the lake is surrounded by a high and impressive moraine left by the glaciers.  

This year’s rendezvous was organized by Roberta (Celilo). Our activities during the rendezvous included hikes in the woods, a hike at the top of a nearby mountain, accessed by a spectacular lift, an afternoon spent on a Park-provided float on the Wallowa Lake (organized by Tom and accessed by Tom’s dinghy and an aluminum boat rented by Dave), many group meals, including a grill-fired pizza night, game playing (including lots of ladder ball), wine tasting hosted by Tom, and lots of relaxed lounging.  Some of us took a 12-mile ride on a pedal-powered two-seater rail car from Joseph to Enterprise and back.  And some of us joined a tour of the Valley Bronze Foundry where we were given a detailed description of the process by which bronze sculptures are created.  (See the next blog edition, to be following soon.)  We had such a good time at the Rendezvous that we vowed to gather again next year and we loved the area so much we resolved to return to the very same Park.  Stay tuned.