Relyea'sAdventures: 9-7-2013 A Ride on the Wild Side through Hell’s Canyon

To arrive at the jet boat launch, we had to travel 17 miles over the mountain on a gravel road that twisted and turned through the hillside. It was a beautiful morning and the views were spectacular. We took our time and enjoyed the journey. We saw a few deer along the way and stopped several times to enjoy the views.

deer?

The weather was perfect for a jet boat ride on the Snake River through Hell’s Canyon. We departed at 10 am and headed up river. The jet boat we were on was one of the newest on the river. We had nearly 1000hp to push through the rapids.

On the ride up we were fortunate to see several big horn sheep coming down the mountain to eat the lush grasses along the river’s edge and to load on water for the day. We did spot a black bear and her 2 cubs along the river, also. They did not hang around long after they heard the boat coming.

We stopped several times on our way up stream. Our first stop was at the Kirkwood farm. There were several pieces of old farm equipment and the farm house that they lived in. You had to be determined and self supporting to survive in this part of the world. You had to grow all the food and raise your live stock. It was interesting to view the farm and see the equipment they utilized to work the land. They were all horse drawn. It must have been very hard work. But, now that I think of it, those folks up in Alaska probably had it tougher.

We continued upstream and eventually arrived at the visitor’s center just below the dam. The excursion included a very tasty box lunch for us. After eating, we explored around the area and enjoyed the warm weather. After checking out the dam, it was time to head back down river, and we were told to expect to get very wet. Going up stream and climbing the rapids you did not get very wet, but negotiating the rapids going down stream would be a little different.

There was one large rapid that really deluged to boat. In fact, everyone enjoyed it so much that the captain went back up the rapid and came down one more time! Most everyone was drenched when we completed the second trip over the rapid. Fortunately, we had put our cameras away, but alas, we have no pics.

The elevation of the river was 1210 ft at Pittsburg Landing where we departed and the elevation at the Hell’s Canyon Dam is 1680 ft, the total change in elevation of 470 ft. The river drop 8.7 feet per mile. So the trip down river would be quicker that the one going up. Once the boat crests over the large rapid, the nose of the boat dips under the water and it requires a lot of horsepower to keep the boat from being pulled under the water.

About a mile from completing our trip, we stopped at one of the sandy beaches that are along the river and anyone who wanted to go swimming could take the plunge. Sharon was one of several that enjoyed the refreshing swim in the river. Not just her toe this time, the whole body, clothes and all.

After arriving back at Pittsburg Landing we visited an area that was supposed to have some old Indian pictographs. We wandered along the path but did not see many. The exposure to the many years of intense sun had faded out many of the pictographs, and sometimes we weren't sure if it was aged pictographs or modern graffiti.

We had a leisurely trip back over the mountain and were ready for a good night’s sleep.