Every summer, Gwen Trice would pack her tent and drive from Seattle, where she lived at the time, to Oregon’s northeast corner, more than 300 miles away. There, in the shadow of the Wallowa Mountains, working ranches and glacial lakes dotted the high desert landscape. The rural setting was not unfamiliar to Trice; she’d grown up in La Grande, just an hour or so to the southwest. But she’d always felt a special connection to Wallowa County. Trice would join others, camping along the Wallowa River and participating in the…
