Polaris Pass

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I'm thinking of hiking the loop in the wallowas that starts at the west fork of the wallowa river and hiking into Ice Lake staying for a day or so then continue back down and through six mile meadow and up Polaris Pass then by Aneroid Lake and back to the Trailhead. Does anyone know how far this might be roughly? And how intense is Polaris Pass (on the map it looks pretty brutal) is this best done going by Aneroid first or does it matter??? How many days should I plan to take my time? Any feedback will be helpful thanks.

The hike down from Polaris is pretty rough going down...can't imagine going up it! The view from there is in my opinion the best in the Wallowas.

The hike described by Adam is definitely one of the top hikes in Oregon.

Forrest

Thanks Adam that is very helpful.

T. Simons_81

First off, do the loop clockwise, camping at Aneroid the first night. Your elevation gain heading up polaris pass will be more gradual. I did the same loop, but I also included the lakes basin area, which I would recommend, and we never did the side trip up to Ice lake. If I remember correctly, it was around 35 miles, so the loop your planning would be a bit shorter. We did it in 4 days, which was a piece of cake, but I wouldn't cut it any shorter. In my opinion, its the best hike in Oregon.

Adam