Wallowa Lake Lodging

Seems like every spring people start searching, wanting to know if the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway road between Joseph and Halfway is open.  Here we are after Easter 2011 and it's not yet open for the season--sometime in May is more like it.  This road is not plowed so the opening date is (among other things) weather dependent.

In late Spring 2010 the road suffered major damage in a few places from spring runoff.  The roadbed was repaired by Fall 2010 but not paved in those damaged places.  We're hoping that the paving will occur in Summer 2011.  You can see an interesting video about the repair here (one of my blog posts from last year). 

Does anyone have friends in high places?  Would you please convince them we need this road paved soonest?  And while you're at it, the rest of Forest Road 39 could use a new surfacing too!  This road, as remote as it is, is very important to Eastern Oregon travel and the communities of Wallowa Lake, Joseph Oregon and Halfway Oregon to name a few.

If you're planning your Eastern Oregon vacation and want to know the status of the road, give the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest office a phone call at (541) 426-4978 and ask the Visitor Center.  They are keepers of official word on the road.

In the meantime, please do check before planning to travel the center section of the Hells Canyon Byway.  We hate it when our incoming guests have to backtrack over an hour of travel time to reach Joseph Oregon!  And I'll keep my fingers crossed here at our Hells Canyon lodging that the road opens and stays open in 2011!

It's springtime in Eastern Oregon which means it's time to update the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast wine list and get ready for the summer visitors to Joseph Oregon.

We've added quite a few new wines to our cellar this past year and retired a few as our guests enjoyed them.  In your guestroom now you'll find our newly prepared list, featuring wines from Sokol Blosser, Argyle and Lange Estate Vineyards to name a few from Oregon.  There are also some very nice wines from L'Ecole No. 41 and Zerba Cellars in the Walla Walla, WA area.  And let's not forget Yakima River Winery and Terra Blanca Vineyard west of the Tri-Cities in Washington.  Rounding out the list are a collection of sparkling wines from the Alsace region of France (I just couldn't help it).

Whether you're packing a picnic wine for Wallowa Lake or ordering a fine sparkling for your romantic getaway, we've probably got a wine or two here for you. 

And there are always glasses and wine openers available in all of our guestrooms in case you'd prefer to bring along your favorite. 

You don't really think about vineyards and wineries near Wallowa Lake or Joseph Oregon.  We're at 4,200 feet of elevation with a short growing season (USDA Zone 5), so there isn't much happening with grape growing up here.

But this week we hosted Tim & Lori Kennedy, owners of Don Carlo Vineyard in Milton-Freewater at our Joseph bed and breakfast.  Milton-Freewater is less than two hours drive from Joseph on the way to Walla Walla, Washington.  I'd always thought of Walla Walla as a big wine area, but it turns out that Milton-Freewater is becoming one too!  Tim explained there are currently eleven vineyards in and around Milton-Freewater producing wines and hard cider.  If this area grows like Walla Walla, undoubtedly there will be more.

Tim and Lori are sending us some maps to the wineries, fruit stands and other agritourism sites of Milton-Freewater.  We look forward to giving them to our bed and breakfast guests heading north towards Walla Walla Washington.  It could be that Bill & I need to plan a little getaway ourselves and replenish our bed & breakfast wine cellar!

They didn't stay at a Wallowa Lake hotel--they stayed at our little Eastern Oregon bed and breakfast--and what a treat for us.  Education about more Eastern Oregon places to experience!

Summer Fishtrap takes place every July at the Wallowa Lake Camp and Retreat Center at Wallowa Lake.  This year the writing workshops are July 10-15 and the Gathering is July 14-17.  The brochures just went out this week to the Fishtrap mailing list and information's available on the Fishtrap website.  Registration opens on April 1, 2011. 

Here in Joseph Oregon (only 10 minutes away from the workshop site at Wallowa Lake), we have rooms available for the nights of July 10th through July 14th during workshop week.

So here's the special:  Book a 5-night reservation for July 10-14, 2011, at the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast and register for one of the Fishtrap workshops and we'll reduce your room price by 10%!  And if you choose to take your breakfast at the camp (not as involved as ours, but full of Fishtrap conviviality), we'll further reduce your room rate by $10/night.

If you want to attend Summer Fishtrap with a partner who isn't planning to attend, this special's good for you.  Your partner can have their own Joseph Oregon vacation while you're writing every day.  (We'll try not to pamper them too much.)

If both of you attend Summer Fishtrap but aren't keen on staying in the camp yurts or bunkhouse, you can skip the Wallowa Lake lodging and plan your week here in Joseph.  It can be hard mental work to focus for 5 days straight and you deserve a good night's rest in a very comfortable, air-conditioned, room on one of our fine mattresses.

Call us soon as we only two rooms left at our Joseph Oregon bed and breakfast for this special!

We were thrilled when our former bed and breakfast guests, Wendy & Bruce Reininger, and their daughter Erica decided to open Arrowhead Chocolates in downtown Joseph Oregon.  It's been less than a year but this little chocolate shop across the street from the post office on Main Street in Joseph Oregon is really a hopping place!

You won't find much information on the website, but their Facebook presence is strong.   They post regularly about what new delicacy Bruce is making tomorrow, or something about the Stumptown coffee, or the specialty tea, or maybe the new refillable locally made wooden boxes for holding chocolates--sort of like an edible jewelry box perhaps?

I personally think reading their posts on Facebook is almost as good as eating their chocolate (and more affordable from a calorie standpoint, but one must splurge on occasion).

It's worth the drive to Wallowa Lake or Joseph Oregon.  You simply must stop in at Arrowhead Chocolates, say hello and maybe sample a little of the wares.   Yum!

The Wallowa Valley Music Alliance is hosting a week long Appalachian dulcimer course at Wallowa Lake from Tuesday, July 5th through Sunday, July 10th.  Don't play the Appalachian dulcimer very well?  This is a perfect opportunity for your Eastern Oregon learning vacation as beginners through advanced players are welcome!

There are lodging options available locally at the Wallowa Lake Camp.  However, if you (or your traveling companion who isn't interested in the dulcimer workshop) are more interested in the creature comforts of a Joseph bed and breakfast, we are offering our available rooms at the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast priced either with or without breakfast.  Stay for six nights (a little before or after the workshop) and we'll throw in a seventh night for free.

The Wallowa Lake Camp is about a 10 minute drive (6 miles) away from Joseph at the south end of Wallowa Lake.   

Check out the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance website for more information about the dulcimer course, meals options, lodging options, etc.  It's a great way to experience Eastern Oregon and learn your instrument from some very, very talented instructors.  Stephen Seifert, Heidi Muller and Bob Webb are some of the best Appalachian dulcimer instructors currently teaching in the United States.

And if Wallowa Lake lodging is not quite your style, consider our Joseph Oregon lodging instead.  Give us a call toll-free at 866-520-9769 and mention the Appalachian Dulcimer Workshop at Wallowa Lake.  We'd love to host you!

Even if it's still wintry weather outside, you might be thinking about a Joseph Oregon vacation this summer.  Eagle Cap Parasailing has a nice video posted on its website that gives you a good flavor of the experience.

And you don't even need to get wet if you don't want to (pretty important at Wallowa Lake where the water can be pretty chilly).  The parasail's run from a hydraulic lift right on the boat.

Eagle Cap Parasailing is located at the south end of Wallowa Lake, about a 10 minute drive from the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast in Joseph Oregon.  Even if you don't want to be up in the air yourself, you can ride along in the boat and watch your friends.

Operating from June through Labor Day, weather permitting, a parasail over Wallowa Lake is a fun way to see the geology of the Wallowa Mountains and get a good view of the moraines around Wallowa Lake.

And we'll send you off with some beach towels (even if you don't need them). 

Looking for a romantic getaway Oregon style?  In honor of our wonderful summer season and the great autumn weather, we are offering all rooms at the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast at a 10% discount for the month of October 2010.

You can look for a Wallowa Lake hotel or for the Joseph Oregon hotels, but you'll find a very comfortable stay at our Joseph Oregon bed and breakfast.

And take a look at our new bocce court in the north yard before the snow flies!

It's nice to find things to do near Wallowa Lake when you're on vacation in Eastern Oregon.  With Highway 39 closed near the junction of Highways 39 and Oregon 86, you can still reach most of the Wallowa Mountain Loop Road (Highway 39) from the Joseph Oregon side.

Even the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast innkeepers get to enjoy the sights around here every now and then!  Bill & I recently drove out to Harl Butte off of Highway 39.  There's an historic fire lookout there.  When we arrived we were surprised to find not only the historic building but an individual manning the lookout as well.  From his vantage point he could see into the Imnaha River drainage, plus from his location you could see the fire lookout tower at Hat Point and across Hells Canyon into Idaho.

What impressed us most was the hand-stacked volcanic rock wall surround the lookout site (he told us a previous lookout had spent 10 summers erecting the wall).  Someone obviously had a lot of time on his hands in between watching for lightning strikes and monitoring fires in Northeastern Oregon and across Hells Canyon in Idaho!

Harl Butte is about 1 1/2 hours from Wallowa Lake.  When planning your Eastern Oregon vacation, consider adding it as an out-of-the-way place for vast beauty.  We keep maps here at our Eastern Oregon lodging to get you there and back again.  Hope to see you soon!

Will wonders never cease--the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast now has availability for the Oregon Mountain Cruise car show in Joseph Oregon--June 11-12, 2010. 

And we have no one on the waiting list.  The Chief Joseph Mountain Room can be yours--two night minimum.  Too bad the fellow that called a few days ago didn't want to be on a waiting list.  We'd be calling him tonight!

If you're still looking for the Wallowa Lake hotel or the Joseph Oregon hotels look no further.  The Bronze Antler B&B is two blocks walking distance to the Show and Shine on Main Street.

Give us a call or click on the links at right to make your reservation today!

So, by now you're probably planning your Eastern Oregon vacation for the summer.  If you like to hike, then basing yourself from Joseph Oregon can be a good compromise if someone in your party likes the creature comforts.

Here's a 2008 video of a couple hiking into Ice Lake.  This hike is a long one-day hike (7.7 miles each way from the Wallowa Lake trailhead), but we've had some guests here at the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast that did the hike in one day and even took an hour at the top to read a book and enjoy the sunshine!


If you'd like more information for planning your hiking vacation, we suggest getting a copy of Fred Barstad's Hiking Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness as a good start.  Fred's trail descriptions, drawings and diagrams are very good.

And if you're looking for a place to stay in Joseph Oregon with plenty of creature comforts, we've plenty of room on our availability calendar for your summertime hiking adventures.  You can use the buttons at the right of the blog page to link to our calendar.  See you on the trail!

Thinking about planning your wedding in Joseph Oregon?  We recently hosted a couple that were doing just that--planning their wedding.  They came with the idea that they wanted to be married here in Wallowa County during March, but that was about as far as they'd planned.

They hoped to be married near Wallowa Lake on top of Mt Howard.  A lot of people hold their weddings up there at 8,000' with the glorious Eagle Cap Wilderness in the background.  A lot of people do during the summer, that is.  Everyone rides up on the Wallowa Lake Tramway to the top of Mount Howard.  The Wallowa Mountains form a fabulous backdrop for such a wonderful event.

Since she skis and he snowboards, they had visions of swooshing in to their wedding location with their immediate families waiting for them.  What they didn't plan on was the fact that the Wallowa Lake Tramway doesn't open until Memorial Day Weekend.  This time of year the tram is closed and it's VERY cold up there on the top of Mount Howard!

Enter the innkeeper who knows a bit about wedding locations in Wallowa County.   Since they were planning a small wedding with just immediate family they didn't need a large place, and they wanted to be outdoors.  And in March--when the weather in Northeastern Oregon could be a sunny 65 degrees or snowing in the mid-20s.

We discussed various possibilities:  Salt Creek Summit snow-park, shores of Wallowa Lake near the Wallowa Lake Lodge (the only Wallowa Lake hotel, but mainly closed in the winter and early Spring). . .

"How about a barn wedding?"  You can be outdoors or indoors (depending on the weather).  You can drive to the wedding location (you're not dependent on the Wallowa Lake Tramway to get you there).  You'll be close to support facilities (like heat, changing areas and bathrooms).

So, we sent them off to look at our favorite barn wedding venue about 10 minutes away from our Wallowa Lake lodging out on Prairie Creek.  Nancy and Don allow couples access to their lovely barn in exchange for donations to the nonprofit organizations they support.  Our betrothed couple returned later that day, flush with excitement over their wedding location.  Nancy and Don were very gracious and showed them both the barn and the granary, a smaller building with doors that open out onto the Wallowa Mountains view.  Perfect!

And to top it off, Don will officiate at their wedding!

If you're looking for a wedding location near Wallowa Lake or Joseph Oregon, be sure to consult with the local innkeepers.  Our couple arrived with a concept and left with a plan.  We'll be seeing them again in March when they arrive a day early to check on last minute details.  And if you'd like to talk with Nancy or Don about their barn, give us a call here at the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast and we'll be happy to put you in touch with them.

We know it's getting on to Spring in Wallowa County when some of the restaurants come out of their winter hibernation and announce their new operating hours.  Calderas, one of our favorite Joseph Oregon restaurants, will open starting March 18, 2010.

(Calderas was open for a packed house on Valentine's Day.  All four couples staying at the Bronze Antler Bed and Breakfast on February 14th enjoyed a romantic getaway Oregon style dinner at Calderas.  Yum!)

Nancy Lincoln informed us that Calderas will be open:

• March 18th to May 18th, Thursday through Saturday, 10 am to 9 pm
• May 19th to September 13th, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 10 pm

And Calderas is more than just fantastic food.  Nancy and her son are both glass artists.  You'll find their pieces for sale at Calderas, along with antiques, jewelry and other gifts.  Dinner this year features tapas (small plates) along with classic cocktails, desserts, wine and expresso.  And during the day you'll find sweets and savory pastries.

When you're wandering the Internet looking for a Wallowa Lake hotel or Joseph Oregon hotels (as some of our guests tell us they use these terms when they start their searches), hopefully you'll bump into other aspects of Joseph Oregon like Calderas and the Bronze Antler Bed and Breakfast!

Are you still looking for lodging during Chief Joseph Days in July 2010?  Need more than one room for your party?  The Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast currently has all four of our rooms available for the last full weekend in July 2010 (the big weekend of Chief Joseph Days).

Our Joseph bed and breakfast is walking distance to the rodeo grounds (at the other end of town), so you needn't drive your truck back and forth to the rodeo performances. 

And if you're not looking for lodging during the rodeo but are thinking that late July is a good time to plan your Joseph Oregon vacation, then we have room for you too.  The activity around Wallowa Lake and the Eagle Cap Wilderness starts picking up in July and runs into August.  Hiking trails are open; the Wallowa Lake Tramway is open; parasailing is available at Wallowa Lake--all sort of things to see and do there.

And the town of Joseph Oregon is festive for the Chief Joseph Days rodeo!  Give us a call toll-free at 866-520-9769 or click one of the buttons at right to start your Chief Joseph Days vacation today.  No telling how long our guest rooms will be available.

If you're looking for snow conditions in the Wallowa Mountains then look no further than the new Wallowa Avalanche Center.  This nonprofit organization of local folks fills an important gap of knowledge--there's no official avalanche advisory, forecast or prediction that covers the Wallowa Mountains of Northeastern Oregon.   But the Wallowa Avalanche Center staff and its qualified contributors provide their own observations so you, the winter outdoor adventure person, can make you own decisions about safe travel in the Wallowa Mountains.

And there's a treasure trove of information on this website.  You can learn about current snow conditions and see some excellent photography of the Wallowa Mountains.  Information about upcoming Avalanche Awareness courses.  Local weather conditions.  And there's a public forum. 

On Sunday, Jan 31st, "Julian" posted a report of conditions at Aneroid Lake (above Wallowa Lake):

"We skied into Aneroid on Saturday and found some great snow conditions. We hiked up the service road to the diversion dam which is very icy under a thin layer of snow. I used some light-weight running shoe crampons on by ski boots and that seemed to help a lot! We were able to put our skis on at about 5500 feet elevation, about a 1/2 mile or so below the bridge. Our skin track from last week was still visible, though it didn't look as if anyone else had used it. The trail above the dam has good snow cover, except for a couple of spots where it crosses a small side creek. You will have to navigate over a couple of down trees as well, but they don't present any major problems. Above about 6600 feet the trail snow coverage is great along the trail. Although temperatures have reached the low 40's during the day at the SNOTEL, we did not see any significant crusting action. In the meadow below Aneroid Lake we measured snow depths in several places and found numbers ranging from 90 to 150 cm. From the meadow we climbed south easterly up the ridge that sits just to the east of the lake. We climbed up to about 7800 feet and dug a snow pit where the total depth was about 165 cm. Keith will report more on the the snow pit information later in the week, but suffice it to say, there was nothing too startling to report! The profile was consistent with what we have been seeing elsewhere."

(Don't confuse a Snotel with a Hotel as there's definitely a difference!)

Now and then we have winter guests here at our Eastern Oregon bed and breakfast who are looking for some outdoor activity: backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, or snowmobiling.  Information from the Wallowa Avalanche Center is a wonderful resource even if you're not going to pack in for an overnight stay in the Wallowa Mountains.

If you're planning a winter Eastern Oregon vacation, check out the Wallowa Avalanche Center's website in addition to calling us!

The Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site opened in September 2009 near Wallowa Lake.  It's the former 60-acre Marr Ranch site and one of Oregon's newest State Parks. 
What's special for our Joseph bed and breakfast guests is that the park is less than a one mile walk from the Bronze Antler.

We love walking up here in all the seasons.  Here is an image from a recent walk in January.  You can see that Knight's Pond is frozen over and the Wallowa Mountains in the background are covered with snow.

In spring there are plenty of wildflowers, and in summer the trails are great for an early morning run or an evening walk.  In fall the deciduous trees and shrubs change colors. 

You're likely to see a few deer in the area and perhaps signs of other local critters.  The sound of the Wallowa River rushing by might give you a sense of what it was like here when the Nez Perce lived here.

We've been steadily blogging about the Bronze Antler Bed and Breakfast since November 2008.  I stopped to count the number of posts recently and we're now at 212 posts!

If you search this blog (see the Search This Blog field at the right?)  --->
you'll find information about subjects like:

• Joseph Oregon and what to do in Joseph Oregon
• Wallowa Lake and what to do at Wallowa Lake
• Joseph Oregon and Wallowa County events
• Planning an Eastern Oregon Vacation
• Hells Canyon Scenic Byway, Highway 39 and Hells Canyon Lodging
• Recipes from our Joseph Oregon bed and breakfast
• Guest rooms at the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast
• Planning a romantic getaway Oregon style at our B&B

You can also click on the various "Categories" (again, to the right on the template) and move right into specific areas like Joseph Oregon Hotels (there aren't any, but we'll tell you about it).

Or you can just wander through the blog and learn probably more about us, our bed and breakfast, and Joseph Oregon than you thought you'd ever know!

Madigan, Bill, Joanna, Elizabeth, Tiffany and I hope you enjoy reading our blog.  If you have some suggestions about what we can do to improve it, you know we're all ears!

The thing about being an Eastern Oregon Bed and Breakfast is that many of our guests return, but not necessarily in the same year or even in the next year.  Joseph Oregon and Wallowa Lake aren't very close to the major metropolitan centers of the Pacific Northwest.  It's 6 hours to Portland, 4 hours to Boise, about 7 hours each to Bend, Oregon or Seattle.

But then there are the closer places, like LaGrande (1 1/4 hours), Pendleton, OR and Lewiston, ID (2 hours each) and the Tri-cities of Washington--Richland (Bill's hometown), Kennewick and Pasco--at 3 hours.

Recently we hosted a couple from the Tri-cities.  It was their first stay at our Eastern Oregon bed and breakfast, but I believe wholeheartedly they'll return soon.  Here's what they wrote in our guest journal:

Bill & Heather:  Thank you so much for your awesome hospitality!  This has been a wonderful weekend getaway treat for us--no reason--just needed to get out of town.  We loved this new modern room but look forward to coming back to stay in the antique topside of the house next time.  Beautiful B&B, your hard work shows!  Thanks again!

They stayed in the Mirror Lake Suite, our very "Asian modern" guest suite.   But since they're so close to Joseph Oregon, they'll be back to enjoy the European Art & Crafts style of our three guest rooms in the fully-renovated original 1920s bungalow.   Wonder which one they'll try next--the Chief Joseph Mountain Room, the Sawtooth Mountain Room, or the Ferguson Ridge Room?

What can you do near Wallowa Lake in the winter?  How about relax a little?  There's really no Wallowa Lake hotel (the lodge is closed for much of the winter), but just 6 miles away is Joseph Oregon and the Bronze Antler Bed and Breakfast.

And we love our wintertime guests!  The pace is slower.  Any couple booking a reservation at our Joseph Oregon lodging is bound to be the only couple in the house (besides us, of couse).  Lots of privacy.  Bubble bath refilled daily.  Lots of attention from the innkeepers (if that's what you want).   Winter rates (lower rates than our high season summer rates for sure).

The solitude of Wallowa Lake in winter is beautiful too.  No crowds.  Wildlife--bald eagles and hawks starting to think about nesting.  Shaggy winter coats on the deer.  Snow on the Wallowa Mountains surrounding Wallowa Lake.  If you're in the mood, there are hiking trails that are passable with hiking boots (and maybe snow shoes).  If you're not, walk along the shore of Wallowa Lake and observe daylight on the ice flows.  And if you're really nuts, jump into Wallowa Lake for your own polar bear swim!

Shops, galleries and restaurants are open in Joseph Oregon and happy to see you.  It's a different experience being here in winter.  And you have a cozy, comfy room with down comforters and pillows awaiting you.  Shuck your outdoor clothes for our Bronze Antler signature spa robe and slippers.  Make it your own wintertime Joseph Oregon vacation.  It's a great time to be here!