Home > Trip Reports > May 29-30, 2017, Wallowas, McCully Basin

May 29-30, 2017, Wallowas, McCully Basin

5/29/17
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Posted by DG on 6/1/17 1:17am
I don't think I've ever made it through a summer backpacking trip in the Eagle Cap Wilderness without looking at some rocky peak and wondering how it might ski in the spring. A yurt trip this past winter was my first time skiing there, but still didn't cure the itch for a wilderness-type trip. Over Memorial Day, we decided to check it out, hiking/skinning in to camp in McCully Basin, a classic glacially-carved valley on the NE side of the range, ringed by north-facing terrain and overlooked by Aneroid Peak.

We parked just past the McCully Creek trailhead (~5,700 ft). Patchy snow started around 6,000 ft, and continuous snow for skinning around 6,800 ft, but it's melting out quickly. The hike in felt like a slog with skis and camping gear, but the trail is kept in good shape. The snowpack in the upper basin is deep but there were a few melted-out spots to be found here and there that could be excavated for a tent, and the creek is conveniently mostly snow-covered for crossings, but with periodic opening to gather water.

The heat prevented good overnight overfreezes, and the snow got sloppy pretty early, so we stuck to a couple of mellow routes, skiing from a saddle along the McCully/Big Sheep Ridge, and climbing up Hidden Peak. There is plenty of steeper terrain still snow-covered, though, and we didn't see any obvious signs of slide activity except for a couple small wet releases on steeper faces, and some cornice collapses over in Big Sheep Basin.

The itch was scratched, but I'm not sure that the condition was cured.

Well done. It's freaking gorgeous out there.

I've always thought a wintertime traverse (when coverage is good down into the creek/river valleys in the range) would be a pretty cool Wallowas trip. Pretty  open travel for the most part.

A group of 7 of us stayed in the McCully yurts last winter and had a very nice 4 days of skiing.  There is plenty of terrain out there, and as our guide told us "the snow is always good snow in McCully." A more accurate statement would be, you can always find good snow somewhere in McCully.


Well done. It's freaking gorgeous out there.


Thanks, for sure!


I've always thought a wintertime traverse (when coverage is good down into the creek/river valleys in the range) would be a pretty cool Wallowas trip. Pretty  open travel for the most part.


Me too - if you could sign up for a couple of the yurts (maybe Norway and McCully) with a night between somewhere, it seems like it would be quite a trip


A group of 7 of us stayed in the McCully yurts last winter and had a very nice 4 days of skiing.


I bet - seems like it would be dreamy to be in there after a good winter storm.

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may-29-30-2017-wallowas-mccully-basin
DG
2017-06-01 08:17:50