Clearwater River & Hell’s Canyon
We had a strange day on the Snake River today. Due to lock delays yesterday, we failed to reach our Lewiston/Clarkston dock at our usual time. However, that situation gave the Clearwater contingent the rare opportunity of following part of the Lost Trail, the overland return trip of the Lewis and Clark expedition down Alpowa Creek. Guests experienced the Zodiacs as a means of transportation to shore rather than as a natural history tour. Lin Laughy met us with the motor coach at Willow Landing below Lower Granite Dam. We saw a mule deer and a number of birds we would have missed had we stayed on the river.
Once in Clearwater Country, we absorbed Laughy’s well-told story of the expedition among the Nez Perce as he put our feet in the footsteps of the Corps of Discovery. While we listened to his description of their month-long stay at Long Camp, four river otter played in the Clearwater, and three bald eagles perched and soared to our delight as Lin lectured.
After a lunch of soup, salads, and sandwiches in Kamiah (“rope litter”), we made some of our own rope litter and cordage from Indian hemp and cattail leaves and learned, from survivalist Lee Hamilton, how to make fire with flint and steel as well as wood friction. Lin told us the Nez Perce creation story at the Heart of the Monster, one of 38 units of the Nez Perce National Historic Site. It rained briefly as we visited Canoe Camp, where the expedition build five ponderosa pine dugouts for their journey down the Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia rivers to the Pacific.
Meanwhile, the National Geographic Sea Bird locked through Lower Granite Dam, expecting to be met by jetboats for the expedition into Hell’s Canyon. The Snake ‘lake’ above Lower Granite abounded in wildlife as mule deer graced the steep canyon walls and numerous birds appeared on the water. After the jetboats reached the National Geographic Sea Bird near noon, forty-one guests roared up the Snake River into Hell’s Canyon to find more wildlife including mule deer, bighorn sheep, river otter, and a variety of birds. Seasonal weather provided wind, rain, sunlight, and shadow to highlight the rugged geology, including coral South Sea Islands and Bretz Flood terraces, mine tunnels and historic mining-era foundations.
Darkness had fallen before the expeditions returned to the ship, which had finally reached her dock in Clarkston at mid-afternoon. A shortened cocktail and recap preceded dinner as exhausted-but-energized guests livened the dining room with tales of their off-ship exploits.
