Day 168-170 – Hells Canyon, OR

I took my time driving over to Hell’s Canyon, along the way I made a stop at the Sierra Trading Post Outlet store, one of my favourite places to shop online.  Although it was tempting, I kept myself from spending hundreds of dollars on gear.  I also stopped at the Oregon trail museum at the entrance to Hells canyon, near Baker city Oregon.  It was actually very interesting, with some really good displays, I learned quite a bit about the emigrants who made the 2000 mile Journey from Independence, MO to the Willamette Valley of Oregon.  Hells Canyon is in the Northeastern corner of Oregon, and unlike the parts of western Oregon that I visited, it’s very dry, reminds me of Nevada or parts of Utah.  Hells Canyon is over 8000 ft deep in certain places, it’s the deepest canyon in the United States, yes deeper than the Grand Canyon.  It is mostly a National Recreation area so there’s a number of primitive campsites, and some trails and gravel roads too.  I spent my first day driving through some of these roads, and then camping at the primitive beartooth campground.  The next day I drove up a gravel road to the small town of Imnaha, and eventually to the Hat Point overlook.   There was a working fire tower there that you could climb up, it was pretty cool, we were at 7000 ft, while the Snake River was at 1250ft, way below us.  It was really pretty, and quiet too unlike many of the national parks this time of year.  Afterwards I made the long drive back to civilization and stayed at Emigrant Springs State Park in Oregon along I-84.  The next day I headed for Yakima, where I had arranged to couchsurf for 1 night.

FTF Day 168-170