Hells Canyon – Snake River Jet Boat ride

Today we took the ultimate jet boat ride.  A 240 mile round trip from Clarkston Washington to Hells Canyon Dam straddling Idaho and Oregon.  It lasted a little over 10 hours and Sun Dancer Excursion proved to be a great host.  Our driver Gabe was a true professional and I take my hat to him for some great driving.  When I say that I take my hat off I really mean it.  I bought a nice Sun Dance Excursion hat and on a sharp left hand turn returning home I left said hat in the River.  I believe I’m not the first nor will I be the last to lose a hat.

Having cruised the Rogue River and their rapids on Jerry’s Jet boat we were looking forward to new adventures.  We quickly learned that the Rogue and Snake Rivers have a personality of their own and that the jet boats used on each river is designed for different purposes.  The jets Jerry uses are built more for acrobatics while the jets Sun Dance Excursions uses are built for awesome rapids and hard pounding.  We were treated to a variety of rapids, wildlife, rafters, stunning scenery, great food, and many, many showers … Early on I stopped trying to compare the rivers and boats and just enjoyed the experience.

Here are some photos of some of the wildlife.  It included osprey, otters, wild turkeys, blue herons, an albino heron, big horn sheep, a herd of big horn sheep, a bear, bald eagle, deer, 3 young big horn sheep males, a variety of birds, and we were treated to the sights of a sturgeon being caught and released.  All in all, the wildlife alone would have made it a great trip but in reality it was just the icing on the cake.

The rivers are shared with numbers of rafters and it looks like fun but I think we’ll stick with jet boats.  Check out some of the rafters we ran into on the river.

Our trip up to Hells Canyon Dam on the Snake River and back to Clarkston, WA started at 7 AM.  Here are some photos of the sights and sounds of the trip.  For the most part they are self explanatory.  There were so many rapids that it almost became second nature but you had to keep your wits about you.  Check out the photos of the rapids.

Here  are 4 videos of those 2 class 4 and/or 5 rapids near the dam.  The first 2 videos are going up river and in the last 2 we are going down river.  Going with the current is always a wilder and wetter drive.

Up River Rapids –Video 1 … Video 2 … Down river Rapids – Video 3 … Video 4