Snake River Tour (7/26/2016)

These are some of the pictures we took during our Snake River jet boat ride on Tuesday. The tour was 58 miles up the river into the Hells Canyon Recreation Area. We met some interesting people and saw some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Great tour, great lunch, great people, It couldn't get much better than this. The people in Idaho are very friendly and they live in a super nice place. Enjoy the pictures.

Volcano's make neat formations.

Captain Butch and mate Joe Bob.

Local Bighorn practicing their butting skills.

The moon joined us for the day.

Petroglyphs from the prehistoric days.

Some people have been here for a long time.

Rafters. Some on a full week trip.

Real history here. They had a paddle wheeler on the river in the 1800's. It didn't have enough power to make it up some of the rapids so they would run a cable through this ring in the rock and winch it up the rapids from the boat. The boat was used to supply mining operations and homesteading. The sad ending is that the cable was caught in the paddlewheel and the boat sunk.

Patriotic Valley.

Another tour boat.

The guy on the right has the hard job.

The girls on the left mooned us when we got along side them. To bad I put my camera away.

Captain Butch telling us a story about former mooning in the valley.

The further up the river the narrower it got and the rapids got a little stronger.

I picked him out on the cliffs above the boat. Rare along the river this time of year.

We stopped at a waterfall that runs all year. The water has formed a natural bathtub here.

Joe Bob shows the tourists how to use the natural tub. 59 degree water.

Selfie with the tour behind us.

I believe that's a photobomb. This young couple were a lot of fun. He was a geologist with his PHD so we were able to ask a lot of questions about the valley. Fun kids. They swam during our stops along the river.

Our final stop. Neat farm owned by the tour company. They generate their own power from damned water. So this place without a normal road had A/C.

Beach at the last stop. The sand is washed down from the Salmon River that flows into the Snake about 10 miles upstream.

This was our RV park in Clarkston, Washington. It's a lake here because of the dam downriver. A major recreation spot.

Winnemucca Nv, Twin Falls Id, Caldwell, Id, Pollock Id, Clarkston Wa

Today is Monday July 25th and I finally have good internet and enough energy to bring the blog up to date. We drove to Winnemucca on the 19th and celebrated our 47th anniversary. We didn't crack the champagne but we had a great meal and a good night.

On the 20th we boogied on to Twin Falls Idaho. The ride up from Nevada is a beautiful ride through high desert. We had one night here and had planned to move on to Craters of the Moon National monument. When we were coming into the town I noticed that my brakes weren't doing the full job so we cancelled Craters and found a freightliner dealer near our next stop in Nampa Id. They were able to get me into the shop the next day and they determined that I was missing a pin on my right rear brake suppressor so the brake wasn't working. It was a quick fix and we were ready to go within two hours.

During our one afternoon in Twin Falls we visited the Snake River Gorge in Twin Falls. This is a massive gorge falling some 300 to 400 feet from the town to the river bed below. It was caused about 13000 years ago when the Bonneville Lake in North western Utah flooded or basically emptied trillions of gallon of water down what is the present day Snake River valley. This event basically emptied the lake, and the only water left is what is now called The Great Salt Lake.

Because of our change we were able to stay in Caldwell near Nampa for a couple of days. We were fortunate enough to be there during the Snake River Stampede (a top ten Rodeo) We went to the Rodeo on Friday night and had a great time. Unfortunately Eileen had left her cowboy boots home so we had to just wear sneakers.

On Saturday we headed north on US 95. We had adjusted our schedule to break the trip to Clarkson, Wa. The drive up US 95 is just beautiful. I had expected western Idaho to be beautiful but the ride far exceeded my expectations. We stopped in Pollock, Id. at Canyon Pines RV which is on the Little Salmon River. The people running this campground were very nice and we met some very interesting people. One couple had retired 17 days before and were on a bike ride from California to Virgina. We had a good night in this beautiful campground.

The next morning we headed north again and road through the Little Salmon River Valley. This ride far exceeded the day before. It is just a beautiful part of this world. The mountains are just amazing.
We arrived here in Clarston, Wa. yesterday 7/24. Clarkson is across the river from Lewiston, Id and the area is one small metro system. Our campground is on the Snake River. We have a pull in site facing the river.

Today we visited the Nez Perce Indian visitors center near here. It is another situation were the Indians were basically screwed out of a major portion of their land. Very industrious people you could tell from the movie and museum. Tomorrow we take a jet boat ride down the Snake River.

Tuesday 7/26 we took the jet boat ride up the Snake River into the bottom of Hell's Canyon. This was one of the nicest tours I have ever taken. The river valley is absolutely beautiful. Our boat captain was the former owner of this tour company and you could tell he is in love with this valley and the area. We heard about the geology of this region, the history of the valley, including Nez Perce Indian history and the Lewis and Clark involvement in the development of the region. Very interesting but the real appeal is the awesome beauty found here. It was a hot day but a great one. The tour was 118 miles round trip and we enjoyed every mile. I recommend this tour to anyone who comes to Lewiston-Clarkson area. Just an fantastic day.

Our arrival into Idaho.

Waterfall into Twin Falls gorge

Snake River Gorge from the visitors center. Notice the golf courses. The one on the south (left) side of the river is public , the other one is a country club.

Close up of one of the kayaker's on the river. The water is green due to run off from the local farms.

Zoom in on the country club from the visitors center.

The main bridge from I84

Snake River Stampede, Friday 7/22/2016

The show begins.

The master of ceremonies. On horseback for the entire rodeo.

Ready for bareback broncos.

Local dress.

One of three trick riders. Really great.

Riding team in the dark. They road at the last Olympics.

The local whiskey wagon.

This was a gag motorbike jump performed by the rodeo clown. Lots of fun.

At least he could see where he was going to land. The first nine riders didn't make the buzzer.

Our famous motorbike jumper waiting for the bulls.

This is a near sunset from our campground in Twin Falls.

Our ride to Clarkston up the western side of Idaho. 7/23 - 7/24

Campground buildings made to look like the saloon, hotel etc.

Campground, post office Pollock, Id.

This was a very relaxing evening.

Its 8:00 o'clock in NC but 5:00 o'clock here in Pollock.

Bring on the burgers.

Our ride from Pollock to Clarkston, Washington across from Lewiston, Id.

Even a good camera can't capture the beauty of the Little Salmon River Valley.

A stop on a eight mile upgrade. This is the location of an Indian battle in 1877.

A rest from the long haul up the mountain.

Glad we didn't have to take the old road. Our up hill ride was only about eight miles.

Hay and canola plants used for canola oil.

Near Lewiston.

We crossed the river about ten times when we were here.

A sculpture along the Snake River in Lewiston, Idaho.

Inside the museum at the Nez Perce Indian Visitor Center.