We began our first full day at the confluence of two rivers: the Clearwater and the Snake. The morning was cool, with a low lying fog that shrouded the landscape and masked the rising sun. Our adventures this morning presented two exciting options. One was to take a motor coach ride along the Clearwater River with a local guide, literally following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they arrived in the area October 10, 1805; and also on their return journey in the spring of 1806. This adventure took the Corps to their campsite at Long Camp, where they spent several weeks among the Nez Perce on their way to the Bitterroot Mountains in 1806. Several other Lewis and Clark sites were visited and lunch was in the small but historic town of Kamiah, Idaho.
The second option was a jet boat ride into Hells Canyon, and we experienced the thrill of sighting Rocky Mountain big horn sheep, bald eagles, a family of river otters, great blue herons, mule deer, and many other birds. Staff naturalist Grace, aka Sacagawea/super geologist, gave us exciting information about the geology of the canyon and the story of the Bonneville Flood. We saw mega-flows of Columbia River basalt, terracettes, exotic terranes, and ash from Mount Mazama. The captain of the jet boat, Jill and I, gave us a thrill ride as he ran rapids and swung back and forth across the Snake, following the course of the river.
The day was completed with a visit to the Nez Perce National Historic Park in Spalding, Idaho where we learned about the history and culture of the Nez Perce people.
