Jet Boat Excursion in Hells Canyon

 An all day treat !

We traveled about 60 miles up the Snake River in a jet boat, saw lots of beautiful scenery, wildlife, heard stories, but mainly gained a rich appreciation of the struggles that Lewis and Clark encountered with this part of the expedition.

Getting to this portion of the river along the state of Idaho, and Oregon contained the most rugged part of their trip. From here it was all down stream to the ocean.

Clarkston, WA - cold enough in the morning to have the 'windows' closed. Large jet boat for all 50 of us. Powered by 3 Ford Raptor engines 

Viewing lots of different geologic features - this is volcanic basalt columns.

Beautiful reflections when the water is calm.

"Shooting the rapids" was great fun!

Pictographs and Petroglyphs have been found here.

There is a lot of land for ranches along the river.

This is a tribute to the 4th generation of cattle ranchers. Virginia Earls (now in her 60's) runs this ranch by herself today. When she was a child she paddled the canoe across the river and was picked up by the school bus for school.

There is a lot of agriculture at the top of this section of mountains.  They would harvest the grain put it in sacks and slid it down a wooden chute all the way to the grain storage at the river then ship it to town by boat.

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A short stop at a Visitor Center for Hells Canyon

They are always looking for extra help.  

If you'd like to volunteer they would drop you off with enough food for a month.

This is one of the most beautiful views of the river.

The Root Cellar

Nice and cool.  Good insulation.

Back down to our boat.

Interesting rock formations.  Can you see the balanced rock?

On the left side of the pic

Aww- what a cutie!

A mother and her baby down at the river for there daily drink.

Looking for a fish dinner.

This fisherman had hooked a 60-100lb white sturgeon. we sat and watched for a while but our guide said it could take up to a couple of hours to land it so we went on our way. It is catch and release for the sturgeon.

Lunch stop at another ranch.

Mail service is just once a week.

Confluence of the Salmon and the Snake River.

 

The Indians that were helping Lewis and Clark warned them that the Salmon River would not be a good choice to reach the ocean.  Perhaps they didn't believe them so Clark took a few men down the Salmon River and discovered how right they were.

Had to abandon that route.

Lewis and Clark were tasked with finding a way to the Pacific Ocean through this territory.  Looking at these rugged mountains I could only think 

"How could anybody find their way through all of this?"

I had seen ads that this was the deepest canyon in all of North America.

"But what about the Grand Canyon, I thought"

It is still hard to believe when looking at this compared to the 

Grand Canyon. Of course we were not in the deepest part of the canyon.

A great trip!

Ending the day with a nice dinner and lovely view.

P.S.

Hells Canyon (Idaho, Washington, Oregon) 

is quite different than 

Hell Dive Canyon ( Utah - our home base.)

Not all wheels stayed on the ground.

Great Indian pictographs and artifacts.