By Bob Van Leer

  (LEWISTON IDAHO, April 19, 2005) - Highlight of the day was a 45 mile jet boat trip up Hells Canyon on the Snake River. We docked at Clarkston, WA, this morning, just across the Snake from Lewiston. We are 465 miles from the Pacific Ocean and at an elevation of 730 feet above sea level. The twin cities are on opposite sides of the Snake at its junction with the Clearwater River.

 The Snake proceeds south from here.  The jet boats used here are larger than those used on the Rogue and are all covered. The Snake here is a larger river than the Rogue. Our boat is called the Hells Canyon Rose and piloted by Capt. Dan. It is owned by the Beamer Tour Company. The boat, according to Dan, is 42 feet long, 14 feet wide and carries 47 passengers. It is powered by two 420 h.p. Cummins diesel engines. 

   The boat is covered and there is convenient room to stand inside. It has a single lavatory. Dan said the boat draws 14 inches on plane. The company offers two trips, 45 and 95 miles. We take the 45 mile tour. Hells Canyon was the winter home of the Nez Perce Indians who liked it because of its mild climate.The first eight miles are in slack water in the pool backed up by Lower Granite Dam. An interesting feature in this section is a light-colored band up to several feet thick visible on the canyon wall which Dan said was ash from the volcanic explosion of Mt. Mazama, the mountain that is now Crater Lake. We were told this is 315 miles air line from Crater Lake. It was the largest volcanic explosion in the U. S. The lower canyon is all volcanic, layer and layer of basalt, some in interesting formations such as columnar basalt columns which are 5-6-7 sided and look as if they were man-made. Further in to the canyon the geology changes into older rock, with huge slabs tilted on their side. One place on the canyon wall we were shown petroglyphs, Indian drawings that present-day Indians are unable to interpret.

   There are more summer homes on the lower Snake than we would have thought, and many make no attempt to blend in with the landscape. Although this blending is harder here as there are no trees and little brush, mostly grass and rock. Above many of the homes we enter the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Dan said there are 26 dams on the Snake and we have gone through four. From Lewiston it is about 115 miles to the next dam, Hells Canyon Dam, a private power project. This dam is the head of navigation and the end of salmon passage as it has no fish ladder. Wildlife was scarce.

  We saw a few ospreys and Dan said he saw a bunch of mule deer, but neither Betty or myself saw any. We had hoped to see big horn sheep. Part way through the canyon there is a white painted sign on the canyon wall, "Entering Oregon". The Snake is part of the Idaho boundary with both Oregon and Washington. Dan had some VCR tapes and DVDs of the Snake trip which he held back until we were in Oregon so he could sell them without sales tax. We turned around at the entrance to the Salmon River, just as rugged a canyon as the Snake.  We boated part of the way back to a lodge owned by Beamer Tours and then were bused back to the Queen of the West waiting at the dock in Clarkston. The tour boats had picked us up directly from the dock. Tomorrow there are no stops, we spend the day boating down the Columbia.