On August 3rd we left Coeur d’Alene and headed for Joseph, Oregon, with an overnight stop in Clarkston, WA, at the beautiful Granite Lake RV Park situated on the Snake River. The next morning we drove to Joseph along a very narrow, winding road over Rattlesnake Pass to the Wallowa River RV Park in Wallowa, Oregon, just north of Joseph. The town of Joseph named in honor of the famous Nez Perce Chief Joseph, is a true western town with cobblestone sidewalks, no power lines and the crowning feature is the 7 Monumental Bronze Sculptures. These larger-than-life-size sculptures represent themes common to the West. The Bronze statutes were sculpted by different artists all portraying the Western Way of Life. Click on thumbnail to view images
One day we did the Railriders excursion. We choose the River Escape from Minam to Grande Ronde River, a 4 hour, 20 mile, round trip journey following along the scenic flowing Wallowa River. We started the adventure at the Minam Store at the confluence of the Wallowa and Minam Rivers to the midpoint crossing over a towering trestle at the confluence of the Wallowa and Grande Rhondo Rivers. Here we turned around and headed back with a slight uphill grade, these are pedal powered only, so we had to work a little harder. Check out the video to see the whole ride! Click on thumbnail to view images
Hells Canyon
On August 10th we drove to Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. On the way we stopped for lunch in Imnaha. It is best known as the gateway to the Hat Point Scenic lookout on Hells Canyon at the Snake River. The townsite was established in 1901 and still looks the same as it did back then. We ate in the Imnaha Store and Tavern. This over 100 year old place had it all, with groceries on one side and bar on the other side, plenty of taxidermy, snarky signs, free pool table, and John Wayne movies on the TV. I highly recommend stopping in for a true slice of Americana. The road to Hat Point was built by the CCC in 1934, still a dirt road. on the way we stopped at the Horse Creek Lookout to get views of Hells Canyon. Our first view at Hat Point was the fire tower lookout, it is one of the few remaining operational fire lookout towers in the US. The Hat Point Lookout is manned every fire season. At Hat Point, Hells Canyon of the Snake River is the deepest gorge in North America. The majestic Hat Point Lookout that stands 82 feet above the nearly 7,000-foot-elevation viewpoint is still in use and we could climb to the 60-foot observation deck to get a magnificent view down to the Snake River about 5,800 feet below and across Hells Canyon. We could even see the Rush Creek Rapids, that were a result of a landslide that created a dam nearly 400 feet high some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. We walked along the trails of Hat Point, taking in the wildflowers and the many vistas of Hells Canyon. What a magnificent view, probably the best you can see all of Hells Canyon. Click on thumbnail to view images
