10
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Visiting North America’s deepest canyon
college.
When the governor first
brought Hells Canyon to my
attention, my dad and I were
headed east on our way to
our annual Labor Day camp-
ing and hiking trip in the
Eagle Cap Wilderness of the
Wallowa Mountains in north-
eastern Oregon. We stopped
at a Chevron station in the
Columbia Gorge (my dad
worked for Chevron, so there
was no other option), when a
black limousine bearing the
Oregon license plate num-
ber of “1” pulled in from the
other direction.
Since I sort of knew the
governor, I walked over to
chat. He asked me where we
were headed, and I told him.
He told me that his favorite
spot in that part of the state
was Hat Point above Hells
Canyon; and, so, the seed was
planted.
We didn’t make it there
on that trip; and, since Hells
Canyon isn’t exactly on the
way to anywhere, it was
50-some years before I did.
Even at that, it took some-
thing else to get me there.
Some good friends recently
moved to Walla Walla from
the Seattle area and invited
us to come visit them in their
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
When we returned from
our trip to Hells Canyon
National Recreation Area, I
realized that not many peo-
ple seem to know that North
America’s deepest canyon is
right here in Oregon. Several
people asked me where I had
been last week; and, when
I said “Hells Canyon,” the
most common response was,
“Where’s that?”
In fact, Hells Canyon,
which forms part of the
Oregon-Idaho border in the
northeast corner of our state,
is purportedly more than a
thousand feet deeper than the
much better-known Grand
Canyon. I say “purportedly”
because the geographical
natures of the two canyons
are so different as to make
direct comparison rather dif-
ficult, but more on that later.
Hells Canyon had been
stuck on my to-do list for
roughly half a century. It was
placed there in the 1960s
by Oregon’s then-governor,
Mark O. Hatfield. I had a
slight working acquaintance
with Hatfield because of
some political and fraternity
interactions while I was in
new abode on Walla Walla’s
Mill Creek. Curiously, even
though they have a Walla
Walla, Washington, address,
their house is actually in
Oregon!
Since we were sort of in
the neighborhood, I thought
it was finally time to visit Hat
Point. My wife wasn’t satis-
fied with just that, however;
so she booked a jet-boat ride
through the Snake River rap-
ids of Hells Canyon.
Upon leaving our friends’
place, we headed for the
Wallowas; and our first stop
was at Wallowa Lake, near
Joseph, where we took the
gondola tramway to the
8,000-foot summit of Mt.
Howard. Knowing that we
had a long day ahead, we took
a short, and very scenic, hike
at the top, then returned to the
base of the mountain for a
drive to Imnaha. From there,
Hat Point is at the end of a
24-mile winding, gravel road.
If you can manage to average
24 mph, it takes about an hour
each way.
Just as the Three Sisters
watch over us here in Central
Oregon, the Seven Devils
preside over Hells Canyon.
These mountains rise to
more than 9,000 feet on the
Idaho side of the canyon; and
Oregon’s Hat Point — at a
mere 7,000 feet — offers a
spectacular view of the peaks.
To my disappointment,
however, only a distant sliver
of the Snake River was vis-
ible, with a faint white riffle.
Also, like much of Oregon,
the forest at Hat Point had
been swallowed up by fire.
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
This stretch of the Snake River can be seen in Hells Canyon, more than a
vertical mile below Hat Point.
Wildflowers in the area were
stupendous; and, all in all,
the place didn’t seem all that
hellish.
Unlike the vertical-walled,
flat-topped Grand Canyon,
Hells Canyon is a more typi-
cal V-shaped canyon, with
many mountainous irregulari-
ties. As a result, with the river
thousands of feet below, it is
virtually impossible to view
the vast topographical fea-
tures from a realistic perspec-
tive. The next day, however,
we were to learn — firsthand
— that the faint “riffle” we
could see from Hat Point was
actually a violent stretch of
Class 4 rapids!
After returning to Imnaha,
we took a beautiful, paved
forest road south to the com-
munity of Oxbow. If you
attempt this trip, however, be
forewarned: do NOT rely on
GPS; carry a map and com-
mon sense. Both our vehicle
and smart-phone GPS sys-
tems insisted on sending us
off into impassable oblivion.
We ignored their impassioned
pleas, however, and did just
fine.
Our Oxbow B & B hosts
told us that traditional road-
side rescue services will not
respond to the frequent GPS-
created emergencies. Two
backwoods brothers, how-
ever, have made a very lucra-
tive business out of rescuing
GPS victims in the area. It
should also be noted that,
with the exception of our B &
B breakfast, there are no food
or fuel outlets in this remote
corner of Oregon. So, plan
accordingly.
The jet-boat tour that my
wife signed us up for was an
all-day adventure operated
by Hells Canyon Adventures
aboard a 36-foot aluminum
craft which can carry more
than two dozen passengers.
I highly recommend a tour
from the south end of the
canyon rather than the north.
The Oxbow (south) end of the
canyon has by far the biggest
rapids and deepest canyon.
In addition to the adven-
ture itself, we saw quite a bit
See HIKE on page 19
CONCEALED CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
The Wallowa Lake Tramway lifts visitors to the summit of 8,255-foot Mt.
Howard above Wallowa Lake.
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