Hells Canyon Geology Field Trip

Late March, '07
Four nights sleeping on the ground wasn't so bad--very comfortable, with all the bedding I took. I goofed, & took the smaller tent, but with the larger fly, so the rain stayed off us pretty well. But with the tent rods being too long, we had to jerry rig them, and the tent sagged lower every day! The heaviest rain was at night, and hearing that and the creek right beside us, it was easy to go to sleep. If we took cough medicine!
[Tent picture would go here, but our system is too slow. Sorry, can't do images.]

We went through Pendleton, Oregon, Saturday, and it was my first time at the woolen mill. I thought $8 per yard, some $5, was a good price, but the truck was loaded, & I thought we'd come back that way. But we wanted to see different country on the return, & did not, so we passed it up.

We arrived at the campground in late afternoon, & surprised SuperGeologist, who didn't expect us until Sunday. We went along with him to a bar in H_.com, Oregon, for dinner, where he was to see the woman who has been selling his books. He had just met her at the bar one time, & she wanted to sell his books. Which she has been doing--to locals. She does not have a store--she is a caregiver for a 98 year old woman. Herself, she is a piece of work. She had got all dressed up to have steak dinner with SuperG--wearing a red silk shirt, and black fringed vest, using a cane, hobbling along. Hair had been freshly dyed, & she was looking for a big night. SuperG was SO glad we went along with him! She wants more books to sell, and she could have talked all night. I couldn't understand everything she said. Mumbled a lot. What a night. We stayed longer than SuperG would have stayed on his own, that's for sure! We had fun.

The students and faculty were to arrive on Sunday afternoon, so in the morning we went with SuperG up on a high spot to count Indian burial sites that he had found previously. He had reported them to the power company that owns the land, and also to the state archaeologist. Somebody had removed the unusual marker stones, & he was disappointed. We counted at least a dozen, and had a good warm-up for the climbing to follow on Monday-Tuesday. We finally solved the mystery of spots--small circles, widely scattered, that had burned during the wildfire last summer. Conclusion: They had been dry piles of cow manure, & burned while the surrounding grass was green, unburned. It looked odd at first--black polka dots on the mountain.

That afternoon the sites studied were all along a road--it was 'stop, look & hammer', no climbing. SuperG is in great shape for 70 years old, & I sure can't keep up the entire time. By Tuesday afternoon I was resting by the river while he took the group to high ground. There were 32 total in the group: 8 or more professors, about 4 state geologists from Idaho & Oregon, grad students, some undergrads, SuperG, & us ( Barefoot Baker and geologist husband).

Monday and Tuesday both days started with a 30+ mile drive to the Hells Canyon Dam, about an hour. Below the dam we boarded a large jet boat. The three engines run pumps that suck in water that pushes out the back, and those drivers can turn on a dime, by deflecting the jet spray of water. There is no propeller, so they can go in low water, if the rocks are close to surface. It's really fun going either upriver or down, through the rapids.

We returned to the dam each night, and then had the one-hour winding drive back to the campground. Dark by the time supper was cooked. The first day we stopped at several places along the river, so we could climb up to outcrops & pound on rocks. At one place there were a couple little Native American pictographs painted on a rock face. At the last place we got out, we climbed up to intersect the trail, and then walked 3 miles to a restored homestead to meet the boat downstream. They said it was 3 miles, but I could swear to 6. Up & down, & zig zagging, I wonder if it was 3 river miles....? The scariest trail ever. Very narrow, some parts steep, but with a sheer drop to the left to the river. Up to Suicide Point, and then mostly down. For a ways, I was just ahead of a geologist who is afraid of heights. He was hugging the rock all the way, and not breathing well. He was scared to death. I asked if I should go behind him, but he said he'd rather have a steady walker just in front of him. Eventually somebody else got between us, and I was glad to see he got to the end.

I had read a book this winter [Home Below Hells Canyon, by Grace Jordan] by the woman who lived at the ranch, in the 1930s and 1940s, & I knew that her first time over Suicide Point was on horseback, so I figured I could go on foot. We met little kids with full packs! I don't know if I would want to do it with a heavy backpack, but people and mules and horses have been using that trail for many years. There were lots of stops while people studied the rocks, & it was not always possible to pass them, just wait & go on when they were ready. I was not about to swing out too close to the edge to pass! There were dogs with some hikers we met. It was easy enough to meet hikers, & pass, because I was on the inside!

On Tuesday, we went farther downstream to start, and climbed a good sized hill/mountain for a great view of the surrounding area. There was fresh snow that morning much higher. The spot we climbed to was a wind gap. Where the Bonneville Flood waters had left deposits, and it is now dry. "Where winds now blow, the waters used to flow."

After the descent to the boat, and hopping hard over the rocks on the bank, trying to avoid poison ivy, my leg had a funny feel, so I did not do the much steeper climb later that afternoon. My geologist husband stayed with me at the campground at the landing, (he took a nap on the bench and talked to the Forest Service guys he knows there), and I found a few fossils beside the river. Still have a little hitch in that lower leg, so it needs some more rest.

Early wildflowers are blooming low in the canyon close to the river. Days started out cold, but warmed nicely. March is a far superior time of year to be down there, instead of summer. The high mountains are deep in snow, and the lower reaches are green & blooming.