July 4th, what a day. A lot of us have been looking forward to this because it’s the Jet Boat Ride up the Snake River through Hells Canyon. And it didn’t disappoint.
You could see lots of geology on the way up. The first thing visible was layers of lava flow. I read somewhere where it’s 10,000 years between layers.
At the beginning of the trip, the hills were small then got higher and steeper the further up the river we got.
Some of the lava organized into basalt columns. This happens when the lava cools quickly, forcing the lava to contract. This rapid cooling and contraction causes horizontal fracturing, creating 5 and 6 sided basalt columns.
Basalt columns in Hells Canyon.
Some columns put on a curve and also changed colors.
Curved columns, and different colors.
Then add a few Nez Perce Indian pictographs.
Can you see all the figures in the very center of this photo? Looks like a dance.These pictographs are a little harder to pick out. It’s the 3 red figures on the flat part of the rock.We stopped for lunch about halfway up.There were no services this far up the river, so their electricity was from a hydro-plant with a backup generator. Everything, including mail and all building materials, are delivered via boat.We had lunch on the deck there bottom right. Our boat is dock in the river. And if you really strain your eyes, you can see a small white sign across the river right above the boat that says “Entering Oregon”. We had lunch in Idaho, and the state line for Oregon and Washington was across the river.
There was an orchard at this ranch which grew apples, pears, grapes, cherries, and apricots.
The apricots were almost ready.The wild turkeys liked grazing in the orchard. We had fun picking up pretty feathers they left behind. One woman’s daughter incorporates them into dream catchers.
We got back on the boat and continued upstream.
Sometimes we’d see these rafts floating downriver. The driver said they put in at the dam upstream and it takes 6 days for them to float down to their destination.
At one point, the boat driver stopped so his assistant could take postcard photos of all the couples off the back of the boat.
Instead, I went up front and got a selfie with the driver, Nate.Then I went back for my postcard.And he had to get his selfie in too.
We saw lots of wildlife. For birds, we saw many bald eagles, great blue heron, osprey, Canadian geese, and pelicans. We also spotted mountain goats several times. (Please excuse the blurriness of the photos, I had to take them through clear plastic.)
These goats would climb those rocks in a second flat. Look hard, there are several.This concerned mama had twins.I was shocked when I came across this photo in my camera roll. It sure got a lot of laughs in the caravan.
On the way back we stopped again at an old sheep camp which the National Forest Service uses for monitoring and issuing permits. It’s run by volunteers who do 30 day rotations.
Unbelievable!! Such beautiful scenery!