The Good:
About a month ago, we were driving the wallowa mtn loop road from the east to northwest. crossed over the upper imnaha river, and decided i needed to come back and check the upper river, and area when i had the chance. last week i returned to the upper imnaha, and drove all the way to the end of the road, and camped at Indian Crossing CG. Nice sites, and the river was beautiful. By this time, fires were allowed in CG's in fire rings. so, relaxed and enjoyed the eve. Next day i grabbed fishing rod, pack, etc, and hiked up river, to Blue Pool. A fellow pop up camper in CG told me i had to go up there. The landscape was great, stream great, and once i made it to blue pool, it was great. it was a bit smoky, and clouding up, so it was not blue, and i could not see any of the Bull trout, that a couple guys on the trail said they viewed. i scrambled around and took in the view, but could tell it was going to rain. sure enough, a light rain started , so i turned around, and headed back to camp. got a little wet, but helped me keep up a good pace for the hike back. Rained pretty good that eve, and night, which was great for NEO.
The Bad:
my big plan was to check out the upper river, which i did, then drive down to lower river and do some dispersed camping, and finally get some fishing in. so, drove however many miles down to the town of imnaha - a nice gravel road, but it was all private, so no fishing. a good number of trump/pence flags still flying... Anyway, got to imnaha, and checked out the store/tavern, then headed north down the 'lower' imnaha river rd. its first asphalt, then at the gravel it has a big sign that recommends no trailers, etc. beautiful canyon country, and all public lands from here on. the road was not the best, but i have been on worse. it went up side canyons to gain elevation, and the pucker factor was increasing all the time.... i have developed a bit of agrophobia, but figured to just keep eyes on the road, and white knuckles on steering wheel. in 4 wd i crept along. could not enjoy views, as the steep descent to river was a bit much. when i finally came across a couple red stancions on the river descent side, i did steal a look, only to find a memorial cross.... i figured that who knows what is ahead, maybe i better find a place to turn around. i have a full size gmc with small back seats, and 6.5 bed - the road would be better suited for something smaller, or for someone more cavalier than me 
. i figured i was about halfway down, but i thought it would be better for me to just buckle up, and do the return now, and not worry about it for a couple days...
The good again.
decided to return to imnaha, and drive out to Hat Point, which overlooks Hells Canyon. This drive is very steep. i think one sign said there was a 16% grade, but it has more traffic, and the road is better. that said, the road up goes up the imnaha canyon side, and it is incredibly steep drop off. all the way to the river, whew ! i just white knuckled it, and luckily did not have any problematic encounters with other vehicles. i had to stop near top to get out and walk around to relax the cramps in my legs from being on the ready to hit the brake....
anyway, the drive on top of the ridge has incredible views. archery hunters were camping here and there, on the hells canyon side of the ridge there were some great campsites, where your picnic table was literally feet away from a multi thousand foot drop off down towards the snake river. i ended up camping at sacajawea spring cg, which is just a few hundred yards from the hat point lookout. i picked a rough campsite, but found another the next morning which had the fantastic canyon view at your doorstep. i checked out the lookout, which is talllll. but since there was still some smoke in the canyon, the views would not be the best. i could see the 7 devils mtns in idaho..
i would recommend all the camp sites in the hat point area. awesome vistas in all directions.
more good: on my way out, i drove from hat point, thru imnaha, joseph, enterprise, and drove up the lostine river. many FS CG's. dont remember which one i picked but it was nice. the river is pretty, and cold, but not big. the camp of 4 sites included 1 other pop up camper. a wtw member, edgwood, from bellingham. nice guy, we exchanged camping recommendations.
that was it for this trip. bought milkshakes to and from in lagrande from a place... local ?? its new, and in middle of town. great !
