DAY 35 - CLARKSTON, WASHINGTON 

JUNE 17 , 2014

We are staying at the Hells Canyon RV Resort.  What a beautiful and nice resort.  The RV park is right along the Snake river. This area is called 'Lewis and Clark Valley'. It is know as the gateway to Hells Canyon, where two rivers (Snake and Clearwater) and two cities (Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington) come together to serve as the hub for our next adventure.

The Hells Canyon RV Resort
 is just on the others side of the boats

Today we boarded the "Canyon Quest" Jet boat for a awesome trip up/down the Snake river, through Hells Canyon, giving us a small peak at what Lewis & Clark experienced.

Are Betty & Jim our captains???

We (Bob and Pat) want to get to go too.

Butch, our real captain,
gave us the rules of the boat ride

And Joe was his assistant

As the boat took off the landscape changed very quickly.  We were nestled between groups of mountains as we traveled up the Snake River.

The water was at flood stage and  flowing very swift.

This water looks claim, but it is not

The Salmon River joins the Snake River

There is evidence dating back more than 11,000 years of Nez Perce inhabiting the regions surrounding the Clearwater and Snake River valleys.  The Nez Perce people are credited for saving the lives of the Corps of Discovery explorers who entered their camp near starvation.  Without the food and shelter provided  by the Nemipuu villagers, the Lewis & Clark expedition may have had a tragic ending.

Butch stopped for a few minutes for us to see the art work of the Nez Perce Indians.

Nez Perce Pictographs

Sacred area for the Nez Perce

The owner and captain of our boat also owns a ranch called Garden Creek in Hells Canyon.  This was the place we had our lunch.  We had a wonderful lunch prepared and waiting for us to arrive.

Sign to welcome us to Garden Creek

Butch's home

Even with a plate full great food who will be able to resist the carrot cake?  Is that Danni?

Today was Tom's birthday. This was a great way to celebrate it.

This man just looks too happy

Everything tasted great! After lunch we went to the orchard (cherry, pear, apricot, and apple trees),and picked cherries and apricots..  There we saw a mule deer in the orchard and several wild turkeys.

This was the first view of the orchards

Wow look at all those cherry trees

Yum, Yum  fresh cherries

Idaho sold five acre lots in the past.  Lots of seasonal “cabins”.  No electric, roads, etc, but great water front property. As we traveled up the river we got to see lots of these homes.

How about this for water front property? 

On the return trip we stopped off to tour the museum and Forest office. Great view downstream.  Can you believe a line at the men’s room.

This is what we saw as we looked down stream
from the Forest office and museum

This can't be right.
There was a waiting line for the men restroom

Forest Office and Museum

This was a long day, but it was GREAT.

Rig #7 Bob and Pat