Snake River, Oregon Country
The Sea Bird is on the Snake River, Oregon Country. Steaming east from Portland out of a week of record cold and up a windy Columbia River, we entered Palouse Country under cloudy, but warming, skies. Spent the day on the Snake above the confluence of the Clearwater. The farther south we traveled in the jetboats, the warmer and clearer it became. Lunch on a beach just above the mouth of the Salmon River, close to 65 degrees, no wind. A day with animals close down by the river: Canada geese, ducks, great blue heron, turkeys, two bald eagles, several herd of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, mule deer, and the inevitable western cattle.
The itinerary took us from Clarkston, Washington, 25 miles into the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, a region dedicated as near-wilderness---a national recreation area---through the inspired work of Idaho Senators Frank Church and James McClure.
As happens so often on Lindblad Expeditions, we were blessed by serendipity. Senator McClure, now retired from the U.S. Senate, is on board and graciously gave us all a recap from his perspective on saving much of the wild Snake River from further dam building. Quiet and unassuming, Jim demonstrated how great vision and federal stewardship went hand-in-hand to preserve one of the nation’s great white water ways. He reminds us that the history of this region is still very much in the making, as current politicians affect the shape, ownership, and use of this vast landscape, so much of it still in public ownership.
Tomorrow morning we head back downriver to the Palouse River. Here, the great Missoula Floods broke through to reverse the flow of the Snake River; here, generations of Nez Perce have gathered, fished, and traded; and here the Hudson’s Bay Company trappers traversed this country, giving it names and impressions still applied by residents and visitors alike.
The Sea Bird is on the Snake River, Oregon Country. Steaming east from Portland out of a week of record cold and up a windy Columbia River, we entered Palouse Country under cloudy, but warming, skies. Spent the day on the Snake above the confluence of the Clearwater. The farther south we traveled in the jetboats, the warmer and clearer it became. Lunch on a beach just above the mouth of the Salmon River, close to 65 degrees, no wind. A day with animals close down by the river: Canada geese, ducks, great blue heron, turkeys, two bald eagles, several herd of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, mule deer, and the inevitable western cattle.
The itinerary took us from Clarkston, Washington, 25 miles into the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, a region dedicated as near-wilderness---a national recreation area---through the inspired work of Idaho Senators Frank Church and James McClure.
As happens so often on Lindblad Expeditions, we were blessed by serendipity. Senator McClure, now retired from the U.S. Senate, is on board and graciously gave us all a recap from his perspective on saving much of the wild Snake River from further dam building. Quiet and unassuming, Jim demonstrated how great vision and federal stewardship went hand-in-hand to preserve one of the nation’s great white water ways. He reminds us that the history of this region is still very much in the making, as current politicians affect the shape, ownership, and use of this vast landscape, so much of it still in public ownership.
Tomorrow morning we head back downriver to the Palouse River. Here, the great Missoula Floods broke through to reverse the flow of the Snake River; here, generations of Nez Perce have gathered, fished, and traded; and here the Hudson’s Bay Company trappers traversed this country, giving it names and impressions still applied by residents and visitors alike.
