After picking up Slinky and saying goodbye to the Maas family we headed east on what they call the Lewis and Clark Trail. We started east on State Hwy 124 which followed the Snake River for about 20 miles. The highway then broke away from the Snake River as we were on our way to US Hwy 12 and our destination Lewiston, Idaho. The terrain was up and down over rolling hills with wheat and hay fields and a few vineyards. We picked up the Snake River again as we were approaching the Idaho border and we followed it all the way to Hells Gate State Park and Campground.
Our campsite was as close as we could get to the Snake River. The Snake at this point is downstream from Hells Canyon, a tough whitewater canyon for rafts and kayaks. In addition, Hells Canyon is the nation’s deepest river canyon averaging 5,500 feet below the rim for some 75 miles. The result is a very scenic 3-4 day trip with a number of class ll-lll rapids and two class lV’s. At our campsite the Snake was flat and lazy and since the air temperature was in the 100’s Diane and I went for a dip at about 5:00 pm. The water temperature was cool but not cold. Very refreshing.
Idaho was battling numerous forest fires and Lewiston was a bit smoky and that made for an orange sunset.
