Driving the road along the Snake River through Hell’s Canyon has been on our wish list for many years, but for as many reasons it was something we were unable to fit into our travels. This was our year to do it, and it didn’t disappoint. For one thing, Hell’s Canyon is North America’s deepest river gorge at 7,993 feet, deeper than even the Grand Canyon.

The canyon was carved by the waters of the Snake River which flows more than one mile below the canyon’s west rim on the Oregon side and 7,400 feet below the peaks of Idaho’s Seven Devils Mountains to the east. Most of it is inaccessible by road, and to really see the canyon it’s best to do it by boat. Next time!

During the mid 1900’s when hydroelectric power was being heavily developed in the west, three dams were built to harness the power of the Snake River. Our route took us past the Brownlee Dam and the Oxbow Dam.

We ended our day in the charming town of Joseph, Oregon and stayed at the Wallowa Lake Lodge (our first night in a real bed for what felt like a very long time!) This lodge was originally built in 1923 and was owned by several families who each added value over their tenure until it went up for public aution in 2015. This inspired a local community push to keep it from ending up in the hands of a large hotel chain, and today there are over 100 investors who plan to keep the historic values of the lodge alive and well. We highly recommend it. Their dining room is also excellent and we enjoyed a delicious German meal that evening.

One of the land formations that Roger and I discovered in a video of various sites worth seeing in Idaho is the Malad Gorge. This is found along the Malad River which feeds into the Snake River. One of the gorge’s most dramatic features is the Devil’s Washbowl. We viewed it from a very sturdy metal footbridge that enabled us to stand on top of the Devil’s Washbowl.

The remarkable thing about this site is that we have have crossed over Malad Gorge several times on our various trips across the west, but had no idea it was there, as there is no way to see this view from the highway, (which is to the right of the footbridge in the top image.) I have become very grateful to all the folk who post videos of their travels or make documentaries for Netflix of all there is to see in our country, as we wouldn’t have otherwise realized it was there.

If you’re so inclined, Twin Falls Idaho is for you. It has one of the few bridges that has been officially qualified for BASE jumping without a permit. For those not into this sport, “BASE” is an acronymn for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennae (referring to radio masts), spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs.) The Perrine Bridge located next to the Twin Falls Visitor Center spans the Snake River, and from the top looks pretty formidable.

We drove to Shoshone Falls where just east of the falls is located the site where Evel Knievel attempted his Snake River Canyon jump on his Skycycle X-2 in September 1974 (remember that?) The jump failed because of a parachute malfunction, and the ramp where he made the leap now sits on private property. In the picture below, find the narrowest gap across the river, and we believe that is the where the jump was attempted.

We visited Craters of the Moon on our first trip west 25 years ago, and I was anxious to return to have my chance to walk to the top of an extinct volcano as Roger had done back then. It is a surreal place, nearly as barren as a desert but covered with volcanic rock and ash instead of sand. This is how is was interpreted by the Native Americans:

There is about a six mile loop that takes you through all the sites on the map. Our destination was the Inferno Cone at 4 where you can walk to the top on a gentle but then increasingly steep path.

I love these wide open and somewhat barren landscapes, like Death Valley and the Badlands. Unlike the pressures we experience in our usual lives, the pressures here are quite simple: get enough water and find or create shade wherever you can. It is not a kind environment, but it is breathtaking.

It wasn’t until we reached Idaho that we realized that the theme of our outbound trip was to be the Snake River. This incredible body of water winds itself throughout several states starting in Wyoming, and passing through Idaho, Oregon and Washington to end in the Columbia River.

We began our close association with the Snake River in Idaho Falls and after a good night camping discovered one of the best reasons to live in Idaho Falls as we shared one of the loveliest parks I’ve ever seen with the residents of IF on a perfect Sunday morning.

We found a jewel of a museum tucked away in the very small town of Pinedale in Sublette County, Wyoming, dedicated to the local history of the fur trade in that area. It is filled with artifacts or representations from the era of the mountain men who explored the region in the early to middle part of the 19th century.

As the oldest Historical Seociety in Wyoming, the Sublette County Historical society was originally established in 1935 for the preservation of historic sites of the fur trade and rendezvous (annual market for trading furs for goods with local Native Americans, fur traders, and fur trading companies.) This museum was built in an unusual way: very slowly, and only with funds they had in hand. Much of the construction was contributed by local folk, and the entire community supports it. Once again, the schools have created some excellent exhibits for the museum, and the artwork they have collected for it captures well the spirit of the times.

While there were many men who made a name for themselves as trappers and guides during that era, Jim Bridger is one of most well known. He was part of the second genertion of American mountain men and pathfinders that followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition and became well known for his numerous expeditions into the western interor, and well as serving as a mediator between Native American tribes and the westward-migrating European-American settlers. It helped that he had conversational knowledge of French, Spanis and several indigenous languages. He was among the first to explore Yellowstone and the Great Salt Lake region.

Roger and I passed by Independence Rock on our first trip west, 25 years ago, and it hasn’t changed much since. It’s one of those remarkable land features that you don’t really see it until you’re right on top of it.

The writings have been weathered greatly over the past hundred plus years, so they are very subtle, but they are powerful evidence of the people who made the marks.

Independence Rock is one of those sites where you can really feel the spirits of the people who made that long trek across the country to reach what they hoped was a better life. Many of them walked most of the way alongside their wagons. I’m sure some were just getting the sense that much bigger rocks (like mountains) were still ahead of them.