Clarkston, Washington and Lewiston, Idaho
During breakfast this morning, the Sea Lion was cruising towards Lower Granite lock and dam. Once on the upriver side of this dam, we had completed the four lock and dam operations of our journey on the Snake River. Our morning destination was the twin cities of Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington. We were now at the most eastern point of our trip along the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The eight dams we have transited so far were, from West to East: Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, and McNary on the Columbia River; Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite on the Snake River. It’s amazing to realize that Clarkston and Lewiston are considered Pacific Ocean ports, even though we were 465 miles up stream from the Pacific Ocean.
Our group was evenly divided between the two options for the day. The first group to leave joined Linwood Laughy, a local historian for a full-day tour exploring various regional historic sites associated with the famous Corps of Discovery or Lewis and Clark Expedition. During the morning, the land tour followed the expedition’s eastward homebound route of 1806 from Clarkston as far as Kamiah Idaho. Lin stopped at several campsites where Lewis and Clark rested and made preparations for the further eastward journey. After lunch at a restaurant in Kamiah, the group visited one of the most famous Nez Perce traditional sights; the Heart of the Monster where Lin told the creation myth associated with the beginning of the Nez Perce people and the links to the physical features of the valley where the Heart of the Monster lies today. We also followed Lewis and Clark’s westward route of 1805, making several stops at camp sights used by Lewis and Clark 200 years ago, almost to the day!
Back at the Sea Lion, the remainder of the group boarded a jet-boat for a trip 65 miles upstream (south) on the Snake River into Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area, part of the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. This is sometimes referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Snake River and is the deepest canyon in North America, averaging 5,500 feet in depth (above the water line) and extending about 40 miles in length. The term canyon is perhaps a little misleading here, because it is not like a typical eroded river course with vertical walls that one normally envisions. The Snake River canyon is surrounded by steeply sloping basalt terraces or hills on either side. We journeyed up river past the mighty Salmon River or “River of No Return,” and made our turnaround just above the confluence of the Snake and Imnaha Rivers.
It was a typical fall day in the Interior Northwest. Mule deer, wild turkeys, great blue herons, common mergansers, a golden eagle and on many a turn through Hell’s Canyon we saw Rocky Mountain big horn sheep. Our first sighting was a gathering of at least twenty females and four very large, handsome males with extensive curled horns! From that sighting we moved on to smaller groups of sheep…..always a large male present guarding a group of females. As we made our way back down river after lunch, on a distant hill a large male big horn sheep ran up a hill, stopped on an outcropping and watched our jet boat as we made our way down river. As Lewis and Clark noted in their journals 200 years ago, the abundance of the Northwest was all around us, from the natural beauty to the abundant resources of water, fish, and game. And, as Lewis and Clark predicted, those resources have benefited the Native peoples who have lived here for many, many generations, as well as the settlers who made their way west and call this corner of Washington and Idaho their home.
During breakfast this morning, the Sea Lion was cruising towards Lower Granite lock and dam. Once on the upriver side of this dam, we had completed the four lock and dam operations of our journey on the Snake River. Our morning destination was the twin cities of Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington. We were now at the most eastern point of our trip along the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The eight dams we have transited so far were, from West to East: Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, and McNary on the Columbia River; Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite on the Snake River. It’s amazing to realize that Clarkston and Lewiston are considered Pacific Ocean ports, even though we were 465 miles up stream from the Pacific Ocean.
Our group was evenly divided between the two options for the day. The first group to leave joined Linwood Laughy, a local historian for a full-day tour exploring various regional historic sites associated with the famous Corps of Discovery or Lewis and Clark Expedition. During the morning, the land tour followed the expedition’s eastward homebound route of 1806 from Clarkston as far as Kamiah Idaho. Lin stopped at several campsites where Lewis and Clark rested and made preparations for the further eastward journey. After lunch at a restaurant in Kamiah, the group visited one of the most famous Nez Perce traditional sights; the Heart of the Monster where Lin told the creation myth associated with the beginning of the Nez Perce people and the links to the physical features of the valley where the Heart of the Monster lies today. We also followed Lewis and Clark’s westward route of 1805, making several stops at camp sights used by Lewis and Clark 200 years ago, almost to the day!
Back at the Sea Lion, the remainder of the group boarded a jet-boat for a trip 65 miles upstream (south) on the Snake River into Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area, part of the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. This is sometimes referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Snake River and is the deepest canyon in North America, averaging 5,500 feet in depth (above the water line) and extending about 40 miles in length. The term canyon is perhaps a little misleading here, because it is not like a typical eroded river course with vertical walls that one normally envisions. The Snake River canyon is surrounded by steeply sloping basalt terraces or hills on either side. We journeyed up river past the mighty Salmon River or “River of No Return,” and made our turnaround just above the confluence of the Snake and Imnaha Rivers.
It was a typical fall day in the Interior Northwest. Mule deer, wild turkeys, great blue herons, common mergansers, a golden eagle and on many a turn through Hell’s Canyon we saw Rocky Mountain big horn sheep. Our first sighting was a gathering of at least twenty females and four very large, handsome males with extensive curled horns! From that sighting we moved on to smaller groups of sheep…..always a large male present guarding a group of females. As we made our way back down river after lunch, on a distant hill a large male big horn sheep ran up a hill, stopped on an outcropping and watched our jet boat as we made our way down river. As Lewis and Clark noted in their journals 200 years ago, the abundance of the Northwest was all around us, from the natural beauty to the abundant resources of water, fish, and game. And, as Lewis and Clark predicted, those resources have benefited the Native peoples who have lived here for many, many generations, as well as the settlers who made their way west and call this corner of Washington and Idaho their home.
