Exploring Snake and Clearwater Rivers
Our wake up call found the Sea Lion traveling up the Snake River, heading for the confluence of two rivers that featured strongly in the explorations of Lewis and Clark. We were still traveling east up the Snake River heading for Lewiston, Idaho, located on the Clearwater River exactly where these two rivers meet.
At 8:30AM a luxury motor coach pulled up in front of the docked Sea Lion and prepared to receive guests bound for a history tour up the Clearwater River. They would follow the Corp of Discovery’s eastward route of May 1806 from Clarkston, Washington to Kamiah, Idaho, stopping at Colter Creek, Treaty Council Camp, and Camp Chopunnish. Hiking and interpretation along trails, followed by a full lunch and then a return journey in the afternoon along the 1805 westward section of the Lewis and Clark trail.
Meanwhile a jet boat would take the remaining complement of our group sixty miles up the Snake River into Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Traveling rapidly up river we kept a watchful eye for Great Blue Herons, Osprey, Golden Eagles, Mule deer, Wild Turkeys, and Grouse. Though, the prize for spotting went to our drivers John and Tom for spotting several groups of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep! The canyon walls began to close in as we approached the upper regions of the canyon near Eureka Bar and the confluence of the Snake and the Inmaha Rivers. What is left of an old stamp mill remains on one side of the canyon wall….giving us a small reminder of the two hundred plus community of people who once called this remote area of Hells Canyon home.
This was our turn around point, where the jet boat made a rapid about face and headed down river towards Hellers Bar and a good hot lunch. But, our spotters were hard at work and two full grown male Rocky Mountain Big Horn sheep were spotted right at the waters edge….lunch would have to wait, as our driver pulled our boat up close for photos and a closer look at two sets of gorgeously curled horns that adorned the heads of these two rams.
The cruise down river went quickly, and soon we were tying up to the dock just outside Hellers Bar. Thirteen intrepid swimmers made the plunge before adjourning for lunch. Making their way out into the water, and then enjoying a comfortable float in the current before swimming around a dock into the current and back to shore…..definitely ready for a hearty lunch!
All too soon we had to make our way back on board the jet boat and head down to Clarkston, Washington and the waiting Sea Lion. On our way we made one last stop at Buffalo Eddy, an old winter camp sight of the ancestors of the Nez Perce people. The rock walls of this camp site are covered with pictographs and petroglyphs. John, our driver, pulled the jet boat in just under the most well know of Buffalo Eddy’s rock art and we had a brief opportunity look, photograph and ponder the meaning of designs rendered many hundreds or even thousands of years ago….
As a final tie-in to a day exploring the Corps of Discovery’s “Northwest Passage” through central Idaho and territorial lands of the Nez Perce people, we made a stop at the Nez Perce National Park located at the Spalding Mission site. Our two busses met, and joined together for a tour of the Spalding-Allen collection of Nez Perce Regalia that is housed at this National Park site. Through the tremendous efforts of both local and distant communities, these pieces were brought home and remain a focal point of this interpretive Center. The pieces are a wonderful collection of old styles of beading, and quill work mixed with newer items traded to the Nez Perce people after contact with traders and missionaries. Through this early trade system, today’s beadwork reflects the styles of the past mixed with the colors and materials of today—creating a continuum, keeping old traditions alive, and moving ahead into the future.
Our wake up call found the Sea Lion traveling up the Snake River, heading for the confluence of two rivers that featured strongly in the explorations of Lewis and Clark. We were still traveling east up the Snake River heading for Lewiston, Idaho, located on the Clearwater River exactly where these two rivers meet.
At 8:30AM a luxury motor coach pulled up in front of the docked Sea Lion and prepared to receive guests bound for a history tour up the Clearwater River. They would follow the Corp of Discovery’s eastward route of May 1806 from Clarkston, Washington to Kamiah, Idaho, stopping at Colter Creek, Treaty Council Camp, and Camp Chopunnish. Hiking and interpretation along trails, followed by a full lunch and then a return journey in the afternoon along the 1805 westward section of the Lewis and Clark trail.
Meanwhile a jet boat would take the remaining complement of our group sixty miles up the Snake River into Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Traveling rapidly up river we kept a watchful eye for Great Blue Herons, Osprey, Golden Eagles, Mule deer, Wild Turkeys, and Grouse. Though, the prize for spotting went to our drivers John and Tom for spotting several groups of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep! The canyon walls began to close in as we approached the upper regions of the canyon near Eureka Bar and the confluence of the Snake and the Inmaha Rivers. What is left of an old stamp mill remains on one side of the canyon wall….giving us a small reminder of the two hundred plus community of people who once called this remote area of Hells Canyon home.
This was our turn around point, where the jet boat made a rapid about face and headed down river towards Hellers Bar and a good hot lunch. But, our spotters were hard at work and two full grown male Rocky Mountain Big Horn sheep were spotted right at the waters edge….lunch would have to wait, as our driver pulled our boat up close for photos and a closer look at two sets of gorgeously curled horns that adorned the heads of these two rams.
The cruise down river went quickly, and soon we were tying up to the dock just outside Hellers Bar. Thirteen intrepid swimmers made the plunge before adjourning for lunch. Making their way out into the water, and then enjoying a comfortable float in the current before swimming around a dock into the current and back to shore…..definitely ready for a hearty lunch!
All too soon we had to make our way back on board the jet boat and head down to Clarkston, Washington and the waiting Sea Lion. On our way we made one last stop at Buffalo Eddy, an old winter camp sight of the ancestors of the Nez Perce people. The rock walls of this camp site are covered with pictographs and petroglyphs. John, our driver, pulled the jet boat in just under the most well know of Buffalo Eddy’s rock art and we had a brief opportunity look, photograph and ponder the meaning of designs rendered many hundreds or even thousands of years ago….
As a final tie-in to a day exploring the Corps of Discovery’s “Northwest Passage” through central Idaho and territorial lands of the Nez Perce people, we made a stop at the Nez Perce National Park located at the Spalding Mission site. Our two busses met, and joined together for a tour of the Spalding-Allen collection of Nez Perce Regalia that is housed at this National Park site. Through the tremendous efforts of both local and distant communities, these pieces were brought home and remain a focal point of this interpretive Center. The pieces are a wonderful collection of old styles of beading, and quill work mixed with newer items traded to the Nez Perce people after contact with traders and missionaries. Through this early trade system, today’s beadwork reflects the styles of the past mixed with the colors and materials of today—creating a continuum, keeping old traditions alive, and moving ahead into the future.
