Hells Canyon

Article Submitted by Seth F.

May 20-22, 2011                             

      On Friday, everyone packed their gear into the cars and we started the 4 hour drive to Pittsburg Landing in Hells Canyon. Hells Canyon is the deepest gorge in North America. 

This campout is what we call a backpacking dry-run. It is like a practice for the real backpacking trip. After we got there, everyone was separated into different parts of the whole campsite. There, we set up camp and ate dinner, it was getting dark so everyone sat around the fire for a while and about an hour later, everyone was in bed.

      The next morning, after everyone had eaten breakfast, the sun was shining and it was going to be a long day so we ate a good breakfast. Mr. Whitt, our Scoutmaster, called us over to his camp and told us a little bit about the history of Hells Canyon and Kirkwood Ranch, our destination for the day. After the discussion, we all got into cars and drove to the trailhead. Once there, we took a look at the map and then started our hike.

       If you think of a trail as flat and sometimes evenly paved, well then this was the total opposite. It was very rocky and the hills at some points were unimaginable. As soon as you got to the heart of the canyon, you got a bird's eye view of the Snake River. A couple of miles into the hike, we came to a creek that led to the river. With Mr. Whitt on one side, and our SPL, Chris, on the other, and a rope stretched out between them, we were able to cross the creek safely. As we neared the ranch, the only obstacle in our way was a series of switchbacks that scaled the canyon wall. If you made one slip off the side, you were surely toast. We managed to scale the switchbacks to get to our destination. Kirkwood Historical Ranch was farmed and/or ranched from the mid 1800’s until 1974. It is now a recreational area made by the government with a museum, various buildings, and a large display of historical farming equipment.

      There was a spot along a creek with picnic tables and a water wheel next to a bridge that everyone settled in to rest on. All of the scouts and adults made their lunch and cooled themselves in the creek. After we ate and rested some of us took a look around the ranch and in the museum across the bridge. Some of the other boys swung on a rope swing in a line of trees surrounding the border of the ranch.

       After everyone was done, we had to hike the entire way back. This time, we did it with a little cool air coming from an approaching storm. By the time we reached the trailhead, the storm was almost upon us, but we did have a little sunshine come down on us, too. After we drove back to the campsite, we were free to do whatever we wanted until we went to bed, Some of the scouts went to the river, others stayed at camp, while the rest of us went to the boat ramp not far from the campsite. At the boat ramp there was a portable salmon fishery with about 12 huge fish tanks that held about 400,000, 4-6 inch salmon. We got to talk to and watch the man feed them.

     Later we ate our Mountain House dinners while the adults appeared to be having a gourmet meal and wouldn't let us come near. We weren't able to enjoy the fire for very long because all of a sudden the rain started and got all the wood wet and almost made it impossible to build a fire for the campfire program. The rain let up just long enough to let us have our campfire program, but as soon as we got into bed, it started to pour down rain most of the night.

      On Sunday, we had a quick breakfast, broke camp, and had a bible reflection right before we left for the long drive home.

    This was one of my favorite campouts and I would love to go on it again.