July 26, 2014
July 26, 2014
Hells Canyon is the deepest river gorge in North America. It sits in rugged country in northern Idaho making it very inaccessible by road. We could take a four-day float trip through this National Recreation Area. The alternative we settled on was a five-hour jet-boat ride up the Snake River. Pittsburgh Landing, our embarkation point, is only about 15 miles away, but there are tall mountains in the way. We took a shuttle van on the steep forest service road that connects it with White Bird, ID on the Salmon River.
We join eleven other tourists on the large jet-boat. Hells Canyon starts out a large V-shaped canyon covered with brown grass. A mere few weeks ago it was all green. As we cruise south up the Snake River, the gorge narrows and steepens. Most of the exposed rock is dark basalt, a testament to Idaho’s volcanic past. The Snake River is very swift with frequent white-water rapids. The three powerful diesel engines that drive this jet-boat make going up rapids and short waterfalls seem like child’s play. Despite being in wilderness we pass lots of rafters floating downstream. It is making Aimee and I want to do the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Along the way we make a couple stops at two historic ranches. The pioneers who tried to ranch here must have led a pretty isolated life as it was a very long walk to any civilization.
Our upstream trip ends at the Hells Canyon Dam, where we stop for lunch and a movie in the dam Visitor Center. Refreshed we reboard the boat for our return trip. It is a quicker trip but much more thrilling. The boat bounces more and we get drenched a few times when the boat prow dips down into the white water. We stop on the way back at a little beach for a swim in the ice-cold water. As we reboard, the co-pilot (and shuttle driver) offers us a tub of large crawfish he caught snorkeling during lunch. Aimee vetoed my acceptance.
On our return shuttle ride, we ask our driver what he does during the off-season. This entrepreneur had a surprising list. Among the items this outdoorsman collects and sells during the winter include huckleberries, morel mushrooms, and elk antlers. He mentioned a few amounts and prices and I started calculating in my head. This guy makes a mint off-season from his forest excursions!
Hells Canyon is the deepest river gorge in North America. It sits in rugged country in northern Idaho making it very inaccessible by road. We could take a four-day float trip through this National Recreation Area. The alternative we settled on was a five-hour jet-boat ride up the Snake River. Pittsburgh Landing, our embarkation point, is only about 15 miles away, but there are tall mountains in the way. We took a shuttle van on the steep forest service road that connects it with White Bird, ID on the Salmon River.
On our return shuttle ride, we ask our driver what he does during the off-season. This entrepreneur had a surprising list. Among the items this outdoorsman collects and sells during the winter include huckleberries, morel mushrooms, and elk antlers. He mentioned a few amounts and prices and I started calculating in my head. This guy makes a mint off-season from his forest excursions!
posted by Mike and Aimee at 9:39 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home