Wallowa Lake is one of the best preserved and best displayed moraine dammed lakes in the world. According to the latest cosmogenic dating, the 13 mile long glacier that created this landscape put the finishing touches on the scene only 19,000 years ago. It was then that the erratic boulders studding the moraines were dropped by the glacier as it began its final retreat (final, that is, unless mankind’s emergence as geological agent has been exaggerated).

The unique, iconic peak at the lake’s south end is Mt. Bonneville, named for Captain Benjamin Bonneville who explored part of the Wallowa country in 1834 and who has been credited, probably unjustly, with being the first white man to set foot in Oregon’s northeast corner. It is less a mountain than an “arete,” a long, sharp ridge carved by the two valley glaciers on either side which united to form the single glacier that created the moraine-bound basin now occupied by the lake. Over the last 2.6 million years, these two glaciers flowed forth many times and likely left early versions of Wallowa Lake when they retreated and disappeared, each time leaving ridges of boulders and gravel known as moraines. Together, Mt. Bonneville and the moraines make the lake visually distinctive.

The lake is also distinguished by being one of the most neglected and ignored roadside attractions in the world, at least by photographers. In over 50 years of photographing this marvel, I have shared the lake with another photographer only twice. Compare that to the typical roadside attraction where you and your tripod have to wait in line behind other photographers before finally getting a chance to imitate compositions that were being imitated decades ago. Arriving at Wallowa Lake and not seeing another tripod anywhere, a photographer can almost enter the fantasy of doing something original and useful.