The Snake and Clearwater Rivers
While many of our guests chose to jet boat up the Snake River today, a few hardy souls embarked on an intense Lewis and Clark experience along the Clearwater River. The jet-boaters enjoyed a flawlessly sunny day, and met two large herds of Rocky Mountain sheep along the way. Hells Canyon lived up to its reputation and allure. The “Clarkies” learned much about the Nez Perce Indians, who welcomed our favorite explorers after they stumbled out of the Bitterroot Mountains in September 1805, nursed them back to health from their severe gastro-intestinal distress, taught them how to carve canoes, looked after their horses over the winter, and put up with them for one entire month on their return trip in 1806. The key to this trip’s educational success was our leader, Linwood “Lin” Laughy, historian, writer, and all-around entrepreneur. Lin knows every campsite, every footstep of the Expedition, and it was fascinating to connect the descriptions in the Journals with the actual locations, largely unchanged since 1805-06. We headed up the Clearwater to Kamiah, and after a delightful lunch at the Hearthstone Bakery, our fearless Expedition Leader, Emma Ridley, won a steel-and-flint fire-starting contest, to the cheers of most of the assembled. She would have made Lewis and Clark proud. We ended the day’s adventures by visiting the Nez Perce Interpretive Center at nearby Lapwai, where the Spalding Collection of artifacts, lost in Ohio for over a century and a half, is proudly displayed. Both parties—the Snake and Clearwater River Travelers—returned to the Sea Bird in plenty of time for evening refreshments.
While many of our guests chose to jet boat up the Snake River today, a few hardy souls embarked on an intense Lewis and Clark experience along the Clearwater River. The jet-boaters enjoyed a flawlessly sunny day, and met two large herds of Rocky Mountain sheep along the way. Hells Canyon lived up to its reputation and allure. The “Clarkies” learned much about the Nez Perce Indians, who welcomed our favorite explorers after they stumbled out of the Bitterroot Mountains in September 1805, nursed them back to health from their severe gastro-intestinal distress, taught them how to carve canoes, looked after their horses over the winter, and put up with them for one entire month on their return trip in 1806. The key to this trip’s educational success was our leader, Linwood “Lin” Laughy, historian, writer, and all-around entrepreneur. Lin knows every campsite, every footstep of the Expedition, and it was fascinating to connect the descriptions in the Journals with the actual locations, largely unchanged since 1805-06. We headed up the Clearwater to Kamiah, and after a delightful lunch at the Hearthstone Bakery, our fearless Expedition Leader, Emma Ridley, won a steel-and-flint fire-starting contest, to the cheers of most of the assembled. She would have made Lewis and Clark proud. We ended the day’s adventures by visiting the Nez Perce Interpretive Center at nearby Lapwai, where the Spalding Collection of artifacts, lost in Ohio for over a century and a half, is proudly displayed. Both parties—the Snake and Clearwater River Travelers—returned to the Sea Bird in plenty of time for evening refreshments.
