Snake River in Hell's Canyon, 2017

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Snake River in Hell's Canyon, 2017

This set of photos is of our trip down the Snake River through Hell's Canyon. This is an edited set for the web. We were on the river from July 10 to July 19, 2017. The trip was organized primarily by Joe Box. The participants were mostly the same as for the Grand Ronde trip in 2016: Gill, Joe, Nora, and Phoebe Box, Mike, Elaine (Gardam), Katie, and Adam McCulloch, Van, Jessie, and Vander McIver, Matt and Silas Killebrew, Kerry and Sharon Luttrell, and myself (Craig Walker) - 9 adults and 7 children.

The big rapids came during the first two days, especially the first day. For those days, the river reminded me of the Grand Canyon with big waves, even in easy or unmarked rapids, seriously big waves in the main rapids (a commercial gear boat flipped in Granite), but without a lot of required maneuvering. The rest of the trip was fairly mellow. It even seemed like the rapids of a given rating were easier later in the trip. We were running at water levels near 14,000 cfs or 23,000 cfs, with a daily cycle depending on the dam releases (from the USGS water level site waterdata.usgs.gov). The change in flow caused water level changes at camps of around two or three feet, so boat management was "interesting".

I made a few film clips and will try to make them available later. I should try compressing them some first. They include Joe and Kerry/Sharon runs in Wild Sheep and Granite rapids plus some messing about on SUPs.

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Staging at Copperfield Campground	Mike and Matt at Copperfield Campground	Jessie at the Copperfield Campground where we all met.	Sharon and Katie trying out the privacy tent at Copperfield Campground. In the end, we had good groover sites at all our camps so the tent did not get used. We would have used it on the Grande Ronde. -->
Wild Sheep Rapid.	The inside of the McGaffee Cabin. There is a plaque there that indicates that the cabin is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1905.	Second Camp at Johnson Bar. This was our first layover. Note river gauge on far side.	An overview of the Johnson Bar camp.
Sleepy Child	Downstream from Johnson Bar.	The Johnson Bar campsite from the walk to Sheep Creek.	Jessie, Katie, and Craig ready to go.
Katie and Jessie on my raft with the sun umbrella up.	At Salt Creek cam on the fourth night.	Silas and Vander	Jessie, Kerry, Sharon, Joe, Gill, Elaine, Katie, Mike, and Van having lunch at Pittsburg Landing.
Camp near Copper Bar.	Kerry at camp near Copper Bar.	Joe, Phoebe, and Gill.	Elaine at the Layover camp at Robinson Gulch.
The Hells Canyon Rose (hellscanyontours.com) blasting past our camp with no sign of slowing down. The jet boats come just often enough to be a bit annoying. Most slowed down for our camp, or when meeting us on the river. Some didn't. Their wakes were more of a problem at camp as they bounced the rafts around on the rocks.	Mike working hard on the SUP.	Vander, Silas, Adam, and Nora haming it up with the fish they caught. The fish were eaten at dinner.	The younger kids: Phoebe, Nora, Silas, Adam, and Vander.
Van looking a bit suspicious.	Mike.	Phoebe.	Gill
Some plant life at camp. I think this is Scotch Thistle which is considered a noxious weed, meaning it is a non-native species that causes economic loss or harm to the environment. This is at the Robinson Gulch camp.	Nora, Phoebe, Jessie, and Katie at Robinson Gulch camp.	Robinson Gulch camp had a lot of these bugs, which appear to be shielded back katydids, cousins of grasshoppers and sometimes called mormon crickets.	Sharon and Phoebe - grandma and granddaughter.
Gill and Katie on a SUP.	Imagine the conditions when that log got placed, presumably during a flood.	A mountain sheep at Cheery Creek camp.	Some rocks at Cheery Creek camp.
Gill and Pheobe.	Dinner at Cheery Creek camp. This is everyone except me, although only Matt's legs are visibile on the right.	Cheery Creek camp boat landing area. There was another party at the portion of the camp just downstream.	Jessie rowing.
Our final campsite. We were beyond the Scenic River designation and there were frequent houses along the banks, sepecially on the Idaho side.	There had been a fire across the river from our camp so recently that they were still recovering fire crews.	Group photo at the final campsite. This one has everyone. From left to right: Vander, Van, Jessie, Silas, Matt, Kerry, Sharon, Nora, Gill, Joe, Phoebe, Katie, Elaine, Adam, Mike, and Craig.	The McCulloch's near the end of the trip.
Approaching the takeout at Heller Bar, just beyond the confluence with the Grande Ronde. The canyon coming in behind the houses is the Grande Ronde.	At Mamoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone on my way home.