Day 8 – 7/15/25 (Tuesday) Clarkston

During the night we went through two more locks/dams. They were loud! Bo woke up, but Al slept through both of them. In the morning we had an information session about Clarkston/Lewiston and about the next day’s disembarkation process for various groups. There were 5 groups: (1) morning drop off at Lewiston airport; (2) Spokane airport shuttle; (3) National Parks continuation tour; (4) car rental drop off; and (5) Lewiston afternoon airport drop off (us).

 

At 1 pm, we started the most anticipated tour – a jet boat tour of Hells Canyon. We were told to be prepared for heat, but the day was absolutely perfect – sunny and warm, but not hot. We went directly from the ship into boats, but our boat turned out to be defective. After an attempt to fix the problem, they relocated us into two smaller boats, which was even better.  The ride through the canyon was amazing – spectacular views all around. Most of the land on the river banks inside the canyon is only accessible by boat or air because there are no roads there, and yet there are small groups of mostly pretty, modern houses there, some quite lavish. They are people’s vacation homes… 

Carved by the wild Snake River and older than the Grand Canyon, Hells Canyon is also deeper than Grand Canyon as it drops more than 7,900 feet from rim to river. It is also the ancestral homeland of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people. We stopped to see ancient petroglyphs and pictographs left by their ancestors. We also had a brief stop at a historic ranch with a big orchard where anybody could pick fruits. Only apricots were in season so we had our fill. A couple of very tame deer seemed to enjoy the fruit as well. 

Hells Canyon is spectacularly beautiful and pictures don’t do it justice. 

Social score: Lunch – win – two elderly female friends from Detroit who had visited all 50 states in the U.S.

Dinner – win – two couples from the Chicago area (traveling together) – world travelers so we had a lot of travel stories to share

Entertainment: Nez Perce tribe members talking about their tribe history, traditional stories, songs, culture – very interesting















 

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