Do yourself a favor. Go visit the Wallowas.

Tucked into the northeast corner of Oregon, there’s no quick way to get there from Central Oregon. But once you’re there, you’ll wonder why you waited so long. It’s worth the trip.

My wife, Kateryna, and I made the six-hour drive after work on a recent Friday and set up camp in the dark at Wallowa Lake State Park. It’s one of the more popular campgrounds in the state, so don’t count on getting a spot without a reservation.

We spent Saturday doing the requisite visit to the lake and Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph’s grave, a walk through the town of Joseph and a drive to see nearby Hells Canyon. But I came to hike. So on a chilly Sunday morning, I left the warmth of my sleeping bag and walked the mile or so up the road from the campground to the trailhead.

I had an ambitious plan: Hike six miles to Aneroid Lake, climb the 9,702-foot Aneroid Mountain towering above it, then return across a long ridge to the summit of Mount Howard, where I’d meet my wife for lunch and then ride the tramway back down.

The well-traveled East Fork Wallowa River Trail toward Aneroid Lake starts to climb almost immediately from the Wallowa Lake Trailhead. Within two miles, you’ll reach a waterfall that makes a nice destination for those short on time, fitness or motivation. A bridge over a stream marks the completion of another two miles, and at the six-mile mark, you’ll reach the lake.

Most of the popular hikes in the Wallowas, and particularly the overnight trips, have a mountain lake as their destination. Aneroid Lake is a good example of why. Camping out by the deep azure blue water against the backdrop of some of the highest mountains in Oregon is my idea of a slice of paradise.

The lake was named by fish surveyor who brought his aneroid, a liquid-free barometer, to the lake to measure elevation back in 1897. I guess men have always been obsessed with new gadgets.

Past the turnoff for Camp Halton, some privately owned cabins on the far end of the lake, the East Fork Trail meets up with the Bonny Lakes Trail on the way to Dollar Pass. About a mile past the lake, I left the trail and headed up Aneroid Mountain. Straight up. About 1,500 feet of elevation up.

There’s no technique involved in climbing a peak like Aneroid. Your steps get shorter, your breathing gets heavier, and slowly but surely, the slope above you disappears beneath your boot soles. Before I knew it, I was on the rounded summit looking at a score of other high peaks surrounding it.

The Wallowa Mountains are a peak-bagger’s dream. The region — technically, it’s named the Eagle Cap Wilderness — contains 37 of Oregon’s highest 100 peaks. Most of the climbs are fairly simple — no ropes or climbing gear required.

I could see my route toward Mount Howard, across the ridge, laid out in front of me. I find ridge walking a pure pleasure. You take the path of least resistance from peak to peak, watching the slopes drop off precipitously on both sides. It feels like walking across the sky.

From Aneroid, I dropped down to a saddle and then back up to the next big peak. Move it anywhere else in Oregon, and it would be one of the highest and most frequently climbed peaks around. But among the other giants of the Wallowas, it doesn’t even get a full name, marked simply with its elevation, 9,495 feet, on the map.

I continued yo-yoing across the ridge, dropping down the next saddle and onto the 9,360-foot East Peak, then over the top, and back down to the slopes of Mount Howard.

I could see the tourists walking along the viewpoints on the south side of Howard’s summit.

“Did you just come up from the bottom?” a lady asked me as I cleared the final crest.

“Ummm, no,” I replied. “I sort of took the long way around.”

Indeed, it was about eight-and-a-half miles, and 5,300 feet of elevation gain, to the summit of Aneroid, then another five miles or so across the ridge and down to the Summit Grill restaurant, where my wife was waiting for me. She had taken the tramway gondola up from the alpine village just past the campground. She had no desire to get up early and hike for six hours up and down a handful of peaks to get to where a $24 ticket would take her. Go figure.

The summit of Mount Howard is a fine destination in itself. There’s a two-mile loop trail with multiple viewpoints along the way. The plan was to have lunch on the summit, but once I stopped hiking, it was a little cold to sit around (beer or no beer.) So we rode the tramway back down and drove into Joseph for lunch.

All the way back to Central Oregon I ran through my upcoming schedule in my mind, trying to figure out what weekend I could return to the Wallowas. They call it Little Switzerland or the Alps of Oregon because of the number of snow-capped peaks in the region. It reminded me much more of the Rocky Mountains.

I’ll definitely be back.

If you go

Where: Aneroid Mountain

Getting there: From Joseph, drive south about six miles past Wallowa Lake. Turn left at the sign for Wallowa Lake Trailhead.

Cost: Northwest Parking Permit required

Difficulty: Strenuous

Contact: Eagle Cap Ranger District, 541-426-5546