Hells Canyon
This morning we departed the Sea Bird, which had traveled as far up the Snake River as is possible, for two jet boats for an all day ride up the deep, picturesque, rugged, and famous gorge of the Snake River in Hell’s Canyon. The views of the exposed geology were fascinating as we moved along young exposures of basaltic cliffs and then into fairly old ocean deposits that a had been on a journey of their own across the Pacific Ocean to be attached to North America over 150 million years ago. On our return trip we stopped for lunch at a National Forest Service check in for boaters entering the Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area.
Two of our most memorable views were at the same time. Not long after leaving Lewiston and Clarkston we motored along some spectacular examples of columnar jointing in the basalt. This is a cooling feature unique to volcanic layers. The regular hexagons and pentagons lent a pattern to the hillside that seemed synthetic. Resting comfortable among the columns were several rocky mountain big horned sheep. There are four in the picture. Can you see them? Their coloration makes them seem to blend into the landscape.
This morning we departed the Sea Bird, which had traveled as far up the Snake River as is possible, for two jet boats for an all day ride up the deep, picturesque, rugged, and famous gorge of the Snake River in Hell’s Canyon. The views of the exposed geology were fascinating as we moved along young exposures of basaltic cliffs and then into fairly old ocean deposits that a had been on a journey of their own across the Pacific Ocean to be attached to North America over 150 million years ago. On our return trip we stopped for lunch at a National Forest Service check in for boaters entering the Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area.
Two of our most memorable views were at the same time. Not long after leaving Lewiston and Clarkston we motored along some spectacular examples of columnar jointing in the basalt. This is a cooling feature unique to volcanic layers. The regular hexagons and pentagons lent a pattern to the hillside that seemed synthetic. Resting comfortable among the columns were several rocky mountain big horned sheep. There are four in the picture. Can you see them? Their coloration makes them seem to blend into the landscape.
