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Going 'wolfing' in Wallowa County
Oregon Wild sponsored Oregon’s first ever wolf-based eco-tourism trips. It’s an idea that’s catching on.
Male wolf from Wenaha pack was fitted with a radio collar on Aug. 4, 2010. It was subsequently killed by a poacher. Photo courtesy of ODFW
"Now this, without a doubt, is a wolf track," says Wally Sykes, our "wolfing" guide in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The last pelt bounty was paid in 1947, but wolves are trying to rebound in Oregon's northeastern tip, where they once thrived.
My son and two daughters, all in their 20s, and I crouch down, making a tight circle on a remote dirt road we've been hiking for hours. We've seen plenty of tracks: deer, elk, coyote, dog, but nothing like this. We stare at an obvious canine print in the soft soil. The track sprawls more than five inches long and four inches wide, easily twice the size left by our Rhodesian Ridgeback at home.
"Looks fresh, within 24 hours," Sykes says.
I stand and look around, scan the hills and valleys, peer into the dense forest of lodgepole, fir and ponderosa pine. At 4,500-feet elevation, snow-capped mountains loom high around us, the massive Wallowas to the west and the spiny spires of Idaho's Seven Devils to the east.
We've been told there may be a den nearby, perhaps containing April-born additions to the Imnaha pack, now down to only five confirmed members. No yellow eyes look back, but though I can't put a finger on it, I feel the pulse of their presence. Clearly, wolves bring a new dimension to the word "wild."
My longing for wolves began decades ago, when my dad was director of the zoo in Des Moines, Iowa. I was a zoo geek. While my friends went to movies or the pool, I kept company with a semi-wild pair of young Canis lupus. It was my responsibility to tame them so they could live at ease, though it meant they would never run free in the grandeur of a place such as Wallowa County.
After I learned that wolves had returned to Oregon, I dreamed of taking my family into their world in hopes of sharing my first wild wolf sighting with them.
Our visit to northeast Oregon began with a night at Barking Mad Farm Bed and Breakfast in Enterprise, one of a handful of hostelries promoting eco-tourism. Over a glass of white wine, we watched a herd of captive buffalo across the road and listened to our hosts share stories of the rugged world they live in, including close encounters with wolves.
Recently, one group of B&B guests went wolfing -- and quickly saw four wolves crossing a nearby ridge. Other guests camped at Zumwalt Prairie, one of the nation's largest bunch-grass prairies, and were happily awakened by the legendary wolf howl.
Advice from experts
Visitors who hope to see wolves have several options. You can certainly search on your own. The vast Imnaha Roadless Area, bordered by the Zumwalt Prairie, the Wallowa Mountains and Hells Canyon, is the most likely spot to spot the Imnaha pack.
The Wenaha pack, in the natural ebb and flow of wolf society, is now at six confirmed members, and they're most likely spotted in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness. Try the Wenaha River Trail, a scenic 31-mile path that runs alongside the river.
As wolves can travel 50 miles in a day, it may be best to consult an expert to improve your chances of spotting them. Check the Wolf Home Page on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website for up-to-date information.
And local wolf advocates such as Sykes are glad to advise well-meaning visitors on locating wolves to help show that these predators can be an asset rather than a threat.
They are aware that eco-tourism stands to boost Wallowa County's economy. In Yellowstone National Park, where wolves were reintroduced in 1995, more than 10,000 tourists visit annually in hopes of catching a glimpse of Canis lupus.
Organized wolfing expeditions are being offered by Oregon Wild, a nonprofit dedicated to securing a future for wolves in our state. The fall trip is full, however.
The Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club has openings for a September excursion. Certified tracker David Stowe will lead the four-day quest for a sight of the Imnaha wolves.
Time together
During our visit, the closest we come to spotting a wolf is seeing Kumo, Sykes' gentle giant of a dog.
But we aren't disappointed. We enjoy time together, without TV, cellphones or computers, and new stories are born, such as our tortuous hike to Hells Canyon and back, skirting a rattlesnake on the trail, and reaching the Snake River, where son Dylan casts in, hoping to catch salmon for dinner.
We see gorgeous wildflowers, elk, soaring prairie falcons, osprey, a dancing prairie chicken, even a perturbed-looking badger. At night, we keep warm around our campfire at Buckhorn Overlook, hear howls that silence us in anticipation, then make us laugh when the howls escalate into the familiar yelping of coyotes.
After the long hike searching for wolves beneath the hot sun on the Salt Creek Summit, bordering the Eagle Cap Wilderness, we return to town and say goodbye to Sykes and Kumo.
I see a new family tradition developing, one that lends itself to the type of outdoor adventure my adult kids crave. We will travel together to this far corner of Oregon until the wolves decide we are ready to see them.
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