Hell’s Canyon
We spent the entire day on the famous Snake River, which defines part of the border between Washington and Idaho, as well as part of the border between Idaho and Oregon. Typical for this time of year, there were many people along the river fishing from boats, from beaches, and from shallows in their quest for late Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. We, on the other hand were not fishing, but came here for a very different reason
Right after breakfast, we boarded a large jet boat at the Washington town of Clarkston (located at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers) and went upriver to explore the wild lands of the Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area, part of the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. Our trip into Hell’s Canyon took us through much of a long gorge, which is sometimes referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Snake River. It is the deepest canyon in North America, averaging 5,500 feet in depth (above the water line), and extends about 40 miles in length. The deepest spot is 7,900 feet and is located in the southern part of the canyon. It has a very rugged beauty that is hard to describe, especially since the term “canyon” is somewhat misleading here; it is not a typical ‘boxed’ river gorge with vertical walls that one normally envisions, but is surrounded by steeply sloping Rocky Mountains or hills. Even though there are 26 dams on the Snake River, which creates many reservoir lakes, the stretch through Hell’s Canyon has no backed up water and runs just as it always has. Only jet boats and rafts can be found in the canyon, and our fast, highly maneuverable boat certainly proved its worth in the rapids.
We enjoyed a record high temperature today of about 90°F and the still, clear climatic conditions made for good wildlife viewing. We got very close to several small herds of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep drinking at the water’s edge (were they suffering from the heat?). In addition, stately great blue herons had stationed themselves fairly evenly along the edges of the watercourse and lots of waterfowl were congregated in spots. And, as expected, we saw several large raptors, including a mated pair of red-tailed hawks performing impressive courtship rituals high in the air above us. All through the trip, we could see evidence of ancient massive lava flows in the surrounding mountain slopes, as well as severe erosion that has changed the landscape through an unimaginable number of years. A highlight was a stop at a sacred Native American site known as Buffalo Eddy, where we were able to observe some ancient pictographs from the bow of the vessel. This side excursion to Hell’s Canyon on the Snake River showed us the only stretch of water encountered on our voyage that was not traversed by Lewis and Clark during their 1804-1806 expedition (they joined the Snake River downstream from Hell’s Canyon via the Clearwater River confluence…right where we left the Sea Lion berthed in Clarkston).
We spent the entire day on the famous Snake River, which defines part of the border between Washington and Idaho, as well as part of the border between Idaho and Oregon. Typical for this time of year, there were many people along the river fishing from boats, from beaches, and from shallows in their quest for late Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. We, on the other hand were not fishing, but came here for a very different reason
Right after breakfast, we boarded a large jet boat at the Washington town of Clarkston (located at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers) and went upriver to explore the wild lands of the Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area, part of the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. Our trip into Hell’s Canyon took us through much of a long gorge, which is sometimes referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Snake River. It is the deepest canyon in North America, averaging 5,500 feet in depth (above the water line), and extends about 40 miles in length. The deepest spot is 7,900 feet and is located in the southern part of the canyon. It has a very rugged beauty that is hard to describe, especially since the term “canyon” is somewhat misleading here; it is not a typical ‘boxed’ river gorge with vertical walls that one normally envisions, but is surrounded by steeply sloping Rocky Mountains or hills. Even though there are 26 dams on the Snake River, which creates many reservoir lakes, the stretch through Hell’s Canyon has no backed up water and runs just as it always has. Only jet boats and rafts can be found in the canyon, and our fast, highly maneuverable boat certainly proved its worth in the rapids.
We enjoyed a record high temperature today of about 90°F and the still, clear climatic conditions made for good wildlife viewing. We got very close to several small herds of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep drinking at the water’s edge (were they suffering from the heat?). In addition, stately great blue herons had stationed themselves fairly evenly along the edges of the watercourse and lots of waterfowl were congregated in spots. And, as expected, we saw several large raptors, including a mated pair of red-tailed hawks performing impressive courtship rituals high in the air above us. All through the trip, we could see evidence of ancient massive lava flows in the surrounding mountain slopes, as well as severe erosion that has changed the landscape through an unimaginable number of years. A highlight was a stop at a sacred Native American site known as Buffalo Eddy, where we were able to observe some ancient pictographs from the bow of the vessel. This side excursion to Hell’s Canyon on the Snake River showed us the only stretch of water encountered on our voyage that was not traversed by Lewis and Clark during their 1804-1806 expedition (they joined the Snake River downstream from Hell’s Canyon via the Clearwater River confluence…right where we left the Sea Lion berthed in Clarkston).
