UP THE SNAKE RIVER
A few days ago, Karen got an email from the boat tour company telling her our trip had been canceled. Not enough people signed up for the half-day trip we’d booked and paid for. So, they offered to upgrade us to the full day trip for no extra charge.
That meant an earlier start and a later return, which equaled a very long day on the river. We went 85 river miles up the Snake River, and 85 river miles back between 8:00am and 6:00pm.
Lewis and Clark did not travel on the Snake River. When they checked it out on their way west, they quickly realized they could never navigate the raging torrent that flowed through Hells Canyon.
Instead, they came down the Clearwater River, which joins the Snake River here in the Clarkston-Lewiston area. Our boat trip began this morning when we took a right turn at the confluence of the two rivers and went up the Snake River.
Just a few miles away, we came up on a cliff of exposed basaltic columns (similar to The Devil’s Postpile in Eastern California or the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland). Our guide told us they are visible now because during one of the last ice ages a gigantic glacial lake (Lake Bonneville) flooded the canyon.
Further along, we pulled up to a rocky bank and saw some 2500 year old petroglyphs. They seem to tell a story about a successful hunt. One of the reasons they still exist is because they are only accessible from the water and they are protected by the property owner.
After a couple of hours, we made our first rest stop at the Heller Camp cabin.
From there we entered the area where the Snake River is ‘free flowing’, which means the dams have less effect and there are rapids. Not far from here we also came to the border of three states: Idaho on the left bank, Washington and then Oregon on the right bank.
Hells Canyon becomes much steeper and more narrow from this point.
Along the way we saw several groups of bighorn sheep. Most of them had young lambs with them.
We passed a place called Cougar’s Bar, which is a rocky sand spit that is (possibly ) the only place on the Snake River where some of the Lewis and Clark explorers set foot. They sent out a small party from the nearby Clearwater River to search for salmon and ended being guided here by members of a local tribe. Kind of like Gilligan and The Skipper, what was supposed to be a half day’s trip ended up taking much longer. Although they found the fish, the several days hike back to camp was very hard on the unrefrigerated salmon.
There are enough people living within Hells Canyon to require mail service. The only way to get in and out is by boat or by air (there are a couple of small airstrips that accommodate bush pilots). We passed by the weekly mail boat on our way upriver.
At the 85 mile point, we stopped at the Historic Kirkwood Ranch to eat our sack lunch. It’s hard to believe this very remote location used to be a ranch. Now, there is a volunteer caretaker (they rotate every 30 days) living there. If you’re interested, contact the U.S.Forest Service. You pay your own way to get there, and you bring your own 30 day supply of food and clothing. Plus, you get to clean the public toilets, mow the lawn and cheerfully greet all visitors.
Here are a few items featured in the small museum at Kirkwood.
And a metal grommet from the late 19th century. These were used by steamboats to winch themselves up through the rapids.
The return trip downriver was much quicker, relatively speaking. We were riding in a 30-35 person jet boat. It handles like a large version of a wave runner. Powered by two eight liter diesel engines, it uses impellers and nozzles to move it forward. This allows for a shallow draft since there are no propellers. The captain steers the boat with a stick, rather than a steering wheel. We made some pretty tight and steep turns going down through the rapids.
We made one rest stop on the way back. Cache Creek Camp is maintained by volunteers, just like Kirkwood. There is a small vineyard, a mini-museum and a root cellar (whose only light comes from a small opening in the roof - see selfie taken inside).
Not far from the end of our trip, we passed a cliff with a distinctive white band of sediment. Our guide told us this is ancient ash produced by a huge volcanic eruption that took place over in Oregon at a location known today as Crater Lake.
Finally, we docked behind our riverfront hotel at about 6:00pm. I don’t know how Lewis and Clark did it day after day for more than two years. No cell service, no hotels, no restaurants…
NEXT: Anaconda, MT
