Hells Canyon!

Oh did we have a day yesterday! It was undescribably fantastic! We booked a full day with Snake Dancer Excursions out of Clarkston, WA with Sally and Ross (http://www.snakedancerexcursions.com/). I suprised John and was up and dressed before the alarm went off at 4:30 am. Had everything ready and was taking fresh hummingbird nectar out to the feeder when Kaylee decided to join me outside. Of All Mornings for her to demand to be out! So while chasing her around, I tripped over Sally and Rosses water line, which of course started spraying ice cold water at me and drenched my pants. Ok, Kaylee is out; Nothing to be done about that, but have to change into something dry, and those were my most comfortable pair of jeans! - khakis would have to do. I got all our stuff loaded - camera, digital audio recorder (which I wish I could have used cause I had was humming a new song out on  the boat, but the motors were too loud to get any kind of recording), 2 pair binoculars, 2 jackets, 4 hats (opps, how did I manage that, only needed 2), phones (oh, no,  just one -John's was in my jeans pocket- which I had to change due to the first outside shower of the day), and 2 big bottles of gatorade. Sally and Ross were equiped with about the same, but they had the sun screen! Good idea!!!

 

Our Great Friends Sally and Ross Giacomo and us, before the trip.

 

 We had a jolly ride to Clarkston arriving about 6:15 - yes a bit early, but we weren't about to miss the boat! Gabe was our captain, and we left the dock at 7 am. There were 8 of us in all, but being with Sally and Ross made all the difference in the world, we had a blast. The boat would accomodate probably 20 people when full, though there were 18 of us on the way back (a boat from another company blew an engine out on the river, and we waited about an hour for them and brought them back with us.) We hadn't paid to go all the way to the dam, but another couple paid the extra $100 each to go that far, so we all got to go! Yes, it was expensive (with taxes it came to $175 each), but it was worth every single penny! John and I started by sitting inside the covered part of the boat, but then Sally and Ross went to the high seats way in the back above the 2 - 350 horsepower Johnson motors. After our second stop, John and I joined them on the other side. In the back you have a better view (Oh the views! The pictures look like nothing at all compared to the real thing), and you have a more interesting ride, Wind, Sun, Water! The 4 of us were all laughing so hard, every time Gabe did a little fish tail or something, and the more we laughed, the more he did it. Sally still had wet pants when we got home, and she had to wring out her socks! After one little soaking, I had to unroll the cuff on my jacket to let the water run out! It was a gas! The other two couples weren't as goofy as we were, but I think Gabe appreciated our joy. One lady couldn't swim and was uncomfortable being around the water, but she did great and overcame her fear. So here we are in the back, sun beating down on us, wind whipping us, water coming at us, and we just roared. Everytime the water hit I became a squeeky toy and squeeled with joy. Sally's laughter reminded Gabe of his mom, so that was sweet too, and he enjoyed it. On the way back we discovered the other tour boat wasn't as... jolly? as ours. When we laughed and  squeeled, they turned around and looked at us as if we were out of our minds. Too bad they didn't have as much fun as we did! We finally had enough though and surrendered our seats to a couple fellows, a father and son I think, and shortly we heard more laughter from behind us. At least they got into the spirit of it!

  

Gabe is a Coast Guard certified boat captain for inland waterways, and I've never seen a waterway like this one. Nothing to fool around with. The water was running at over 22,000 cubic feet per second in the river yesterday which is high (17,000 is about normal, and at 17,000 cfs the 2 big rapids by the dam are class 4) Yesterday they were class 5, which is crazy. I didn't want to go through anything worse than a class 3, but Gabe was extremely professional and knew exactly what he was doing and how to go about mastering those wicked, wild, rolling rapids. Our boat only needs 5 to 6 inches of water, and is flat bottomed and quite wide - it sat 4 across comfortably plus the center isle. Never once did I feel any fear at what we were going through, even when one of the last 2 really big ones -  one of the class 5-'s was an 18 foot difference between top and bottom and we went through it sideways on the way down! The trip upstream was incredible, and that's when I took all of the pictures (having too  much fun getting wet to take pics on the way back, besides, my camera is water shy:) You can go out to Google, images - and do a search on Hells Canyon - there are great pictures out there that others have posted too.

 

 The deepest point has 9000+' peaks above it. We could see the peak at 7000+" while we were at 1200 feet above sea level. Hells canyon is nothing like the Grand Canyon with it's straight walled sides and many colors. Hells canyon, (the deepest canyon in the world) is very rugged. -  We saw 1 huge Black Bear way over on the side of the mountain, 8 Big horn sheep (one was a young one), 3 Bald Eagles, and 2 mule deer on our trip. The big horn sheep were really neat. We were docked at Kirby's waiting on the other group and across the river something moved. First people were saying there were elk and big horn sheep, but the binoculars gave it away. A family of big horns (one with a tracking collar) were having lunch just across the river along the CCC trail.

My bitty camera wouldn't zoom in that far, but Sally's could, so the wildlife pics are her's!

  

 now, here's some more of the canyon.

 

 

   

 the stream at Kirkwood's Ranch

Hells Canyon Dam - Small by Dworshak standards, but still...

Gabe did a great job telling us about the history of the area, pointing out historic spots and watching for and pointing out wildlife.  He was also a wonderful host for our coninental breakfast - yummy muffins and juice/coffee, lunch of chicken, pasta salad, beans, a vegie tray and soda or water for lunch which was at one of the historic ranches now owned by the forest service, and our cookie snack. Although there was not a potty on this particular boat, we made ample stops to take care of necessities and stretch our legs along the way.  It's 110 miles from the marina in Clarkston to the Hells Canyon Dam, so we went 220 miles round trip! The shadows were giving the canyon different dimensions on the way back and it was truely beautiful.

Kittie and Krystal, here's something you and your fellas would enjoy -

 We saw many, many rafters - this one was funny due to the umbrella! There are quite a few companies that offer rafting trips. Primitive campsites with sandy beaches can be found all along the river at special spots. I'd love you to experience this!

 people have been in this canyon for time untold as these petroglyphs show.

What's a trip without an after pic.

We seem to have changed!

till next time! Laugh!!!!! It feels great!

The first 24 days at Dworshak Dam in Idaho

WOW, the drive from Lolo through the pass was incredible, all the way to Orofino and up to the dam. Since arriving here, we see deer daily; lots of them, and in this last week, the fawns have begun to appear! We have California Quail feeding at a ground feeder spot just behind our rig along with mourning doves, Grosbeaks, Towhees, Robins, Western Tanager,and many other birds. I was thrilled to see the quail as I haven't seen them since I was a child on vacation in Arizona. We've also seen many osprey and golden eagles and of course black and turkey vultures. We have several bunnies sharing our little volunteer village and wild turkey come daily to the feed spot out back. John thought he saw a bear scurying up the hill the other morning. We also saw 8 elk and a snow shoe rabbit on a drive from Elk River  back to Orofino on Hwy 8 & Dent Bridge Road.

The scenery is incredible. The last two days have been in the high 70's and the nights comfortable with a light jacket. The locals say the rest of the month past was more like March. Rain, drizzle, and more rain. Of the 24 days we've been here, it's been sunny 3 days, and one of those clouded up in the afternoon and we got a storm. For the most part though, there is very little wind, and the rain is not intollerable. Mostly just drizzle. I have to admit though, we're happy to see the sun! I was actually able to use my solar oven today and bake potato bread and hard cooked eggs.

Our volunteer position with the Corp of Engineers is fun. A bit exhausting (mainly because I don't know how to stop working), and exhilerating! We have 10 areas in our maintenance route and take care of cleaning bathrooms at 4 locations, 2 of them flush, 2 of them pit. I prefer the pits, they're easy! We also pick up trash all over the grounds and up and down 2 roads (have orange vests for that) It's ridiculous what people throw out their windows! We weed eat and mow at the campgrounds and day use areas (that's the exhausting part) and pull weeds in the flower beds up by the visitor center. (A custodian takes care of maintenance in the visitor center, so all we do is empty garbage cans outside and keep things nice and clean. We have two favorite areas. Merry's Bay is 3 miles from town and down a very narrow 14% grade road down to the reservoir. It is a day use area with picnic tables, fire rings and a pit toilet. Walking the area between high water and present level is neat. I've seen HUGE wolf tracks there, and we believe cougar tracks this past week.

The deer are starting to drop their fawns also. This little sweetheart was laying right along the side of the road on the way down to Merry's Bay.

Canyon Creek Campground is our other favorite. It's 11 miles out and over the mountain. The scenery and wildlife are always enough to take our breath away. The reservoir is huge; 54 miles long, and the water is crystal clear. The dam is 3/4 mile across and over 700 feet tall. Within the reservoir are trout, cocomi (sp), bass and crappe. The fishing license here is $98 for out of staters, plus a trout stamp if you want to try for Schnook Salmon on the north fork of the Clearwater just below the dam. As much as I want to go fishing, I'm too cheap to spend that much on a license, so John goes fishing, and I go watching. So far, he's not caught anything big enough to keep, but it's fun sitting out there with him, camera in hand.



driftwood at Merry's Bay

John in his maintenance duds by the remains of a HUGE tree, washed up on shore.

The sign at the turn to Merry's Bay and Canyon Creek Campground

Our Volunteer village is very nice. We have full hookups and we're behind a locked gate, so no one bothers us after hours, and the other folks we're working with are great people, as are our supervisor and the others working here at Dworshak Dam. We couldn't be happier with everyone. They treat us very well.

I'm so interested in the wildlife and botany I haven't taken any pictures of the dam or our village; I'll have to remedy that in a future post.

Orofino, 7 miles from Dworshak, is a quaint little town that is still a town without tons of empty storefronts. Their bakery is incredible, and they have several nice restaurants, a great shoe store, a natural foods store ( I was Thrilled to find this!), a library, post office (we've got a PO box in Ahsahka which is 3 miles from Orofino.) and no fast food places. The people are friendly and helpful. There are 3 grocery stores and several hardware stores and a few thrift stores, a garden center and more. Part of the city is on our side of the Clearwater river, and part is on the opposite side and runs along the river for several miles.

Here, we are amidst the clouds, and there are fir trees surrounding us in all directions. 40 miles west of here on hwy 12 is Lewiston and just across the bridge in Washington is Clarkston - that's where Walmart is. Down there, the mountains are "naked" - no trees! It's very different from here, and it gets warmer down there also. However, our T-mobile phones work there! Only verizon works here.



Our friends, the clouds, hanging over Ahsahka and Orofino

The mountain creeks are beautiful!

Something we never expected was the smell of the air. It's undescribable, and wonderful. There are wildflowers blooming everywhere and the forest is lush, (except where potlatch corporation has clear cut - those areas are bare bones and awful), responsible logging has been done by others, and those areas are lush and alive, but potlatch doesn't log responsibly - and that's very sad.

Most of the people around here are very very good stewards of the land. When local people come here, there is little to no trash to pick up. Tourists on the other hand..... well, you get the picture!

Canyon Creek Boat Launch

Come to Idaho and be Amazed!