Hells Canyon 2013

Doug enjoying sunny limestone in Hells Canyon

Three years ago, I made a pilgrimage to Hells Canyon over Memorial Day weekend.  Armed with just enough beta to find this remote valley, we explored numerous unknown sport climbs of unknown grades, met a few committed regulars and even picked up some tidbits of information that I filed away for future trips.

I promised myself a return trip but fast forward three years later and I still hadn't managed to make the time.  When the weather gods recently washed out a planned trip into the mountains for Memorial Day weekend, Hells Canyon immediately came to mind as Plan B.  The forecast looked a bit marginal but drier than pretty much everywhere else north of the Sierras.  By 10 pm Friday night, we rolled into Allison Creek campground and unloaded our kit down by the river.  

Idaho Ski Junket

Earlier in February, I was lucky to tag along on a ski trip to the Idaho Selkirks with a bunch of guys who had been making this trip an annual pilgrimage for the last several years.  Just outside of Sandpoint, nestled in the mountains, an amazing log home sits on a butte at about 5000'.  One side looks out over the valley and other looks up at the surrounding ski terrain.  The friendly proprietor sleds in the food, the clothes, and the keg while the everyone else enjoys a leisurely 6-mile skin up a forest road.

Hells Canyon Trip Report ... sssshhh ... don't tell anyone.

In 2000, just as I was learning how to climb, I took a backpacking trip to Hells Canyon with Kristin and my friends Eli and Jason. Jason had just moved to Portland from New York state, and Eli flew in from New York City for a visit. I had lived in Portland for only a little more than a year. We drove in from the Oregon side, up and over endless steep hills of sagebrush and eventually down into the canyon and the banks of the Snake River. That trip left a strong impression on us west coast newbies, surrounded by what felt at the time like a frontier wilderness. I recently dug out some old photos, and we look like tiny little creatures in a vast foreign landscape. At the time we felt the same way and couldn't believe we had stumbled upon such a little talked about natural wonder.

From Hells Canyon 2010