How To
The Cascadian Wilderness Endurance Series events present an exciting opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts to participate in a multimedia adventure blogging contest. These self-supported/unsupported events are open to trail runners, backpackers, fastpackers, and hikers, and each event features a unique and defined route which participants must complete on foot and in one push. Unlike traditional endurance races, there are no course markings or aid stations along the way, providing participants with the freedom to create their own adventure. It’s all up to you! Participants can choose to tackle the route solo or with a couple friends. There are no cutoffs, so participants can take as much time as they need to complete the route without pressure. This unique event is not just about the physical challenge or exploring wild and beautiful places, but also about the opportunity to capture and share the beauty of the wilderness through captivating multimedia content.
1. After finishing your route, share your trip report about your experience. You can do this by posting in the Facebook group, tagging us in an Instagram post, making a YouTube video, creating a photo album, or any other artistic endeavor you can imagine.
2. Submit your time via the event page on Ultrasignup. If you have a GPS track, please include it. If you happened to get the FKT for the year, you must provide GPS proof.
3. Each year a meetup will be held in Seattle to wrap up the previous year, kick off the next year, make any big announcements about new routes or changes, and hand out patches, awards, and prizes for the previous year’s participants. If you are unable to attend the event, arrangements can be made to mail your patches to you.
We strongly encourage all entrants to join the CWES Facebook Group and/or follow the @CascadianWildernessEndurance Instagram to ask questions about the routes, gather and share trail beta, connect with other participants, scope out the competition, and keep up to date on the most recent news, information, and general goings on. This contest is brought to you by the Cascadian Wilderness Endurance Company LLC.
Route Description
This loop, that is probably more like 36 miles, starts and ends at the south end of Wallowa Lake, just south of Joseph, Oregon. This will take you through and past some of the best known highlights of the Wallowa Mountains, including the Lakes Basin and near Eagle Cap while going over two high passes. This isolated mountain range is full of greenery and glacier-carved valleys. The crux of the route is Polaris Pass, which can hold a tricky snow cornice on its north side well into June. Plenty of water along the whole route. While a summit of Eagle Cap is not included on this route, I would highly recommend the side trip off of Mirror Lake. If you want an even longer trip, add on the out and back up to Ice Lake on Trail #1808, and maybe even a summit of Matterhorn, the second tallest mountain in the range. If you have some mountaineering/climbing experience, you could even go for Sacajawea Peak, the highest point in Oregon outside of the Cascades at 9,839 feet.
Route includes West Fork Trail #1820, Lakes Basin Trail #1810, Glacier Lake Trail, back to the West Fork Trail (but now heading northbound), then take the right fork onto Polaris Trail #1831 (no signage here as of June 2018), and East Fork Trail #1804 will take you all the way back to the trailhead to complete the loop. Feel free to take the short alternate through the Lakes Basin on Horseshoe Lake Trail #1821, but I would highly recommend going between Douglas and Crescent Lakes instead of taking the shortcut along the south shore of Douglas Lake so you don't miss the amazing view of Eagle Cap across Mirror Lake.
Rationale
Why should you pay $20 to complete one of the endurance challenges? A small part of the fee will go to cover website maintenance and domain registration, as well as getting patches made and other small goodies/swag. The majority of this fee will be donated to trail maintenance organizations.
Why are we even doing this? To get people out into the wonderful wilderness areas that we have here in the Northwest and to build the community of adventurous people! The trip report is just as important as actually finishing the route, and we love it when people come up with creative ways to share their experience. Information isn't always readily available for these areas, and maps can be scarce and not always reliable (especially the Pasayten and Frank Church/Selway Wildernesses.) That can intimidate some that aren't as experienced outdoors-people. The goal is to empower people to get out into these wilderness areas and hopefully to protect them into the future.
Event's current local time: 12:41 AM PT
