We awoke this morning to the beautiful sunlit hills surrounding the Snake River in Clarkston, WA, for the final day of activities on our expedition. After breakfast, we gathered onto a jet boat for a fast-paced adventure 57 miles up Hells Canyon! On our way up, we stopped at Cache Creek, where Oregon, Washington, and Idaho all converge. We continued upstream past the Salmon River before turning around at the Imnaha River convergence. On our way back, we stopped at the Garden Creek Ranch Nature Conservancy for lunch. We saw sandstone deposits from ancient oceans and petroglyphs from thousands of years ago. Passing through the narrowest part of Hells Canyon — only 25 feet wide! — we saw a group of bighorn sheep. We also saw golden eagles, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, great blue herons, bufflehead ducks, mule deer, and possibly a brief bobcat viewing! When we finally returned to National Geographic Sea Lion mid-afternoon, we enjoyed sunny weather, fun stories, and some drinks together. We had entertaining, informative, and inspirational stories and songs from JR Spencer, an elder from the local Nez Perce tribe. Afterwards, Coco Umiker joined us on board to share tastes of her local wines and stories about life as an artisan winemaker. Finally, to top off a perfect day, we enjoyed the Captain’s Dinner in the dining room and the guest slideshow in the forward lounge. Tired, happy, and content, we trickled off to bed for a final night on board before heading home early the next morning.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 13 Oct 2023
Hells Canyon , 10/13/2023, National Geographic Sea Lion
- Aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion
- Pacific Northwest
Julia Huggins, Naturalist
Julia is an earth-systems scientist who studies how the interactions between living and non-living parts of Earth’s environments can shape ecosystems and global climate. She is based in Squamish, BC, Canada, and through her research collaborations sh...
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