Is the World’s Highest Outhouse in Oregon?

When we Travel to the Wallowas in northeast Oregon, we always include a trip up to the top of Mt. Howard aboard the Wallowa Lake Tramway. It is about a 15-minute ride to the 8,100-foot tram station topside. Built in 1970, the Swiss-built tram offers the steepest verticle lift for a four-person gondola in North America on a single continuous loop cable that is over 19,000 feet long.

Up top, there is a 2-mile trail system around the mountaintop that provides magnificent views and a wonderful launching pad for paragliders. The flight down to the shoreline of Wallowa Lake is just over 3,500 feet from the north-facing Wallowa valley overlook.

As you trek out toward that overlook you will discover not one, but two outhouses

When we first discovered them, we were flush with questions. When and how were they built? And could they be the highest outhouses in the world? Well, no. As it turns out there are a plethora of privies much, much higher.  Mont Blanc in France has two that were flown up above the 13,000' level. Mt. Whitney, in California, had one at over 14,000', and was the highest in North America until its removal in 2007. The highest in the world may be at Russia's Mt. Elbrus, at over 18,500'. Record or not, I was relieved to find it...