Hells Canyon, 4 Days, 81 MILES

The Day Before the Trip
Travel to Cambridge, ID, arriving most anytime.  You will receive complete pre-trip information in our email orientation packet.  Hopefully all your questions will be answered.  If not, you will have a chance to answer last minute questions. Dinner is on your own.

Day 1
A representative from HCR will meet you at 7:00AM Mountain Time, at the Frontier Motel. Watertight bags and containers will be distributed, as well as breakfast, served by a local cafe. After breakfast we depart from the hotel by 8:00AM to the launch site in Hells Canyon. Hope in our shuttle, the drive to the river is about 1.5 hours. The guides have the boats ready to go.  After a short safety orientation we finish strapping down our gear and launch for the trip of a lifetime.  Today we run the two largest rapids on the river; Wildsheep and Granite Creek. A quick scout at each provides a view of the excitement to come, and a chance for the paddle boat and kayakers to receive last minute instructions.

We will also explore ancient Indian Pictographs, and an abandoned homestead at Bernard Creek.  The McGaffee Family lived at Bernard creek from 1915 into the late 30s.  Check out their Hells Canyon wallpaper made from old Saturday Evening Post magazines.

There is time for fishing from the boats, at lunch, and also when we arrive at camp.  We bring all the gear to fish with.

Each day we stop for a riverside lunch break around noon.  This is a great time to get to know the other guides and guests, fish a little, and usually we take a short hike.

We arrive in camp around 4-5:00.  You walk up into camp to find your tents set and your gear bags packed up.  There is time for relaxing, hiking, fishing, or reading a book from our Hells Canyon Raft Library.

Hors d’ oeuvres are served around 6ish, and dinner around 7:30.  After dinner and a Dutch Oven desert there is time around the campfire to tell stories of conquered rapids, fish tails or roasting s’mores.  The stars start to appear, inviting conversations with old and new friends.  Soon it is time to wander off to your tent and bed.

Day 2
You arise to the aroma of fresh coffee and sizzling bacon. Breakfast is served around 7:30 or 8:00.  While the guides clean up the kitchen and other gear there is time to pack your personal gear.  We will come around and take down your tents, as they are cleaned out.  We usually get on the river about the same time the sun peaks over the canyon rim.  Hells Canyon is the deepest gorge in North America, so it is about 9:30 before we see sun on the water.

After lunch and maybe some sturgeon fishing we cruise through some smaller rapids and calm water.  This is a great time to try out the inflatable kayaks.  Kirkwood Historic Ranch is on the agenda today.  This was the home of former Idaho Governor and Senator Len Jordan.  The Jordan family lived here during The Great Depression.  Grace Jordan, Len’s wife, is the author of “Home Below Hells Canyon.”

Tonight’s camp is below Pittsburg Landing, which is where the 34 mile trip gets off the river.  The guides always fish for sturgeon from camp, which can provide some great dinner time entertainment.

Day 3
Today after breakfast you pack your personal gear and hit the water.  We visit the site of the massacre of Chinese miners at China Creek.  They were thought to have had a large cache of gold that was never found. Around lunch time we arrive to the place where Nez Perce Indian Chief Joseph’s tribe was forced to cross the river during the spring of 1877.  They crossed the river safely with their families, all their belongings, and horses and cattle, in horsehide rafts pulled by swimming horses.

After lunch we pass two major tributaries to the Snake River.  First the Imnaha River; here there is time for a beautiful short hike up the pounding Imnaha to the abandoned Mountain Chief Mine Tunnel.  Next we come to the impressive confluence of the Snake and Salmon Rivers.  The river doubles in volume.  We usually try to camp in this area.

By now you have a true grasp of “River Time.”  There will be more time for playing on the beach, hanging out in the shade, followed by another evening of laughter echoing off the canyon wall.

Day 4
The river still has more to share.  There are small rapids and some amazing scenery as the river canyon opens up to grassy mountainsides.  Watch for Rocky Mountain big horn sheep, and reflect on the journey that is coming to an end.  Depending on the river flow we may join the rafts together and use a small quiet outboard motor cover some of today’s miles.

We stop on a beach for our final lunch, and group photos.  Email addresses are exchanged for sharing photos.  Plans are made for a reunion trip next season.  A few more miles and we arrive at Heller Bar, our take out.  We say our good byes.

It’s a quick 45 minute ride back to Lewiston.  Time for a hot shower, and a change of clothes.  Most all guests will plan to fly out the next morning.  If you are flying out of Lewiston there is a free shuttle to the airport.  If your flight is out of Spokane it is two hours’ drive from Lewiston.  If you had your vehicle shuttled from Cambridge to Lewiston, it will be waiting in the hotel parking lot.