Kathleen's Window: Hells Canyon- The Snake Runs Through It!

September 16, 2014

Leaving Thursday afternoon late in the day after the RV repairs, we went back into downtown Boise looking for Whole Foods and a few items we still needed. Everyone in Trader Joe's had been incredibly friendly and helpful. We thought that was just the usual TJ's friendliness, but more so, until we reached 10 Barrel Brewhouse and Whole Foods. The Mercedes dealership was truly friendly and happy, too, and we have come to realize that Boise is just a great place with terrific people. I had a talk with the customer service desk staffer at Whole Foods. He was originally from Rhode Island and said that Boise was a rough gem, and they hoped to keep it that way. In other words, don't tell everyone. I'm telling my readers. Boise is a great place!

Our late departure from Boise left us with little time to reach Hells Canyon for the night, so we detoured over the Snake River and into Oregon and spent the night at Cow Hollow Campground west of the town of Nyssa. Cow Hollow was originally a CCC camp during the Depression, and then a Japanese American interment camp during World War II. The Japanese Americans were allowed to work in the sugar beet fields, due to the worker shortage and the need for the sugar beets to be harvested and not left to rot in the fields. In recent years the park was run by the BLM, who considered it surplus and turned it over to the county. There were a few other campers there. We hooked up to an electric outlet, and then went looking for a place to pay. There were no signs and we learned from a neighbor that most people made a $5 donation at the store up the road.

Onions! The farms roads were all lined with onions that had rolled off the trucks.

Cow Hollow camp

Onions ready to harvest

The next morning, after a quiet night, we dropped off our donation and drove back to Nyssa through the onion and sugar beet fields. The same plant that processed the sugar beets during the war was operating in town. We were also following truckloads of onions on the back roads. Later in the morning we passed a frozen foods plant and the air was pungent with the smell of chopped onions waiting to be frozen. Thankfully we love onions, or it would have been quite nauseating!

We drove north up Highway 95 until we reached Columbus and the road west over to the canyon. We first read about Hells Canyon last spring as we passed through the coastal areas of Oregon. It forms the border of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Why had we never heard of it before? It is deeper than the Grand Canyon, and the Snake River winds through it forming scenic rapids. We were determined to see it on our way south after Alaska, but, where did we access it? Searching maps and the internet, we couldn't find a road along it, except for a small portion of it in Idaho, and then not in the steepest area. Oregon had a few overlooks way west and above it in places where you couldn't even see the river below. I gathered some information on rafting and jet boat tours, but at well over $100 per person, we decided it didn't fit in our budget.

Sugar beet field

Heading down into Hells Canyon

After coming across a lot of bloggers complaining that they couldn't find a good way to access it either, I found one who had boondocked along the Snake south of the Hells Canyon Dam which seemed to be where it narrowed and the tours started. It wasn't the deep canyon area, but we were ready for some quiet boondocking along the water. Crossing over the pass at Brownlee and down into the canyon, we arrived at Brownlee Reservoir. We passed on the nice green campground there, run by Idaho Power and followed the river north until we crossed over to the Oregon side at Oxbow Dam. On our way we passed either a female mountain goat or sheep jogging along the side of the road near the dam. From there we had the choice of the paved road on the Idaho side that eventually dead-ended at the Hells Canyon Dam, and a few campgrounds on the way, or the dead-end gravel road along the Oregon side. We took the gravel road, (of course!), which went through a rock tunnel and passed several small BLM campgrounds. All of them had some campers in them, so we drove on for another five miles or so until we found a boondocking site along the river. No one else is here with us, although it is obvious that this is a regularly used site. There are gravel areas and fire rings.

Brownlee Reservoir

Big Ewe leading down the road at a stroll

Oxbow Reservoir

Reflections everywhere!

The BLM road uses the old railroad grade and tunnel to the ghost town of Homestead.

The road to our boondock site

After getting the rig leveled we walked out on “our beach”. There were two mule deer on it looking at us like we weren't supposed to be there after Labor Day! We have a view across the river and of the canyon on the other side. The traffic traveling on the paved road on the other side is infrequent, but echoes across the river when it goes by, especially the motorcycles. A few cars go by on the gravel road behind us. There is also a dirt road cut 2/3rds of the way up and into the canyon wall across from us. Occasionally someone drives by on it. We never dreamed it was passable! A surprisingly few power boats have gone by.

Mule deer at our boondock camp.

Sitting in the shade on the beach.

North view

South view

This morning Greg was awakened by the birds chirping and scratching in the bushes. He was also woken by the fish in the river. That sounds crazy, except they are 18 inches long, probably carp, and jumping out of the water and splashing back in. Not enough to wake me up, but, hey, I'm not a morning person! I also missed the herd of female turkeys between us and the road. Greg sat by the lake to wait for the sun to rise over the canyon wall and not disturb what he calls “the ladies” as they worked the shady meadow in front of the RV. Now he's biking and exploring the area. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the fish are jumping, the deer are around here somewhere, and maybe the turkeys, Greg just rolled up, and we heard shrieking and an eagle just snatched a fish out of the water while being chased by one very vocal seagull! I think we'll stay two more nights and enjoy the free campsite and free entertainment!

Blackberries next to camp.

Campground Host checking up on us.

Butterflies attracted to the algae on the lakeside gravel.

Least Sandpiper enjoying the many flying insects at lake's edge.

Late afternoon reflections

Sunday evening- We plan to leave in the morning. Yesterday, after I wrote about all the “wildlife”, we had a half dozen cattle wandering down our road in this open range area. They kept going when they saw that we were camped in one of their grazing spots. Late afternoon we sat on our beach and listened to the symphony of humming. The bees and flies were finding tidbits, maybe algae, on the damp rocky waterline. Joining them were lots of butterflies, and a Least Sandpiper helping himself to the insect buffet. Greg has been identifying birds and has been nostalgic for the catbirds in our old yard after hearing a pair today. He took a walk up the hill at dusk and found the female turkeys roosting in the trees and speculated that there are coyotes nearby. Sure enough, late at night we heard the coyotes howling accompanied by some owls. Every night the crickets have been almost deafening. Greg turned on the generator this evening, and they ratcheted up their chirping a few notches to compete! Summer is on its way out and all of nature in Hells Canyon seems to be having one last frantic fling in the last of the summer warmth.