Snake and Clearwater Rivers
We awoke to another crystal clear and cold morning on the river. Today we had the choice of venturing further up the Snake River to a place that Lewis and Clark were not lucky enough to visit, or to continue in Lewis and Clark’s footsteps and visit some of their campsites along the Clearwater River. Half of us chose each option and we bid the Sea Bird goodbye for the day.
Those of us on the Snake River headed to Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area by jet boat. The scenery was stunning. Highlights included close-up views of several bands of big horn sheep, 2500 year old petroglyphs at Buffalo Eddy, seeing the steelhead trout that the fishermen were catching, learning the history of the area and watching our jet boat cruise through the rapids with ease. We felt fortunate that Hell’s Canyon had been protected from development so that we could enjoy it today.
The trip alongside the Clearwater River, with local historian Lin Laughy, was equally fascinating. Here we saw sections of the river that looked much like it did when Lewis and Clark traveled it. We stopped at campsites that they used 200 years ago and could picture the men of the expedition and the Nez Perce Tribe sharing stories, trading goods and developing respect for each other. At lunch in Kamiah we had a fire starting demonstration and then got to practice starting fires using flint and steel. Cooking meals would take a bit longer at home if this were still the practice!
Our groups were reunited at sunset at the Nez Perce National Historic Park where we were treated to a talk that helped us imagine what daily life was like for a Nez Perce family 200 years ago.
We awoke to another crystal clear and cold morning on the river. Today we had the choice of venturing further up the Snake River to a place that Lewis and Clark were not lucky enough to visit, or to continue in Lewis and Clark’s footsteps and visit some of their campsites along the Clearwater River. Half of us chose each option and we bid the Sea Bird goodbye for the day.
Those of us on the Snake River headed to Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area by jet boat. The scenery was stunning. Highlights included close-up views of several bands of big horn sheep, 2500 year old petroglyphs at Buffalo Eddy, seeing the steelhead trout that the fishermen were catching, learning the history of the area and watching our jet boat cruise through the rapids with ease. We felt fortunate that Hell’s Canyon had been protected from development so that we could enjoy it today.
The trip alongside the Clearwater River, with local historian Lin Laughy, was equally fascinating. Here we saw sections of the river that looked much like it did when Lewis and Clark traveled it. We stopped at campsites that they used 200 years ago and could picture the men of the expedition and the Nez Perce Tribe sharing stories, trading goods and developing respect for each other. At lunch in Kamiah we had a fire starting demonstration and then got to practice starting fires using flint and steel. Cooking meals would take a bit longer at home if this were still the practice!
Our groups were reunited at sunset at the Nez Perce National Historic Park where we were treated to a talk that helped us imagine what daily life was like for a Nez Perce family 200 years ago.
