Hell's Canyon

Two of our couple friends volunteer for the U.S. Forest Service as caretakers at Kirkwood Ranch in the middle of Hell's Canyon. The ranch is an old homestead consisting of a small farmhouse, a log museum, which used to be buck house for some workers on the ranch, another old log house which is now historical site, and miscellaneous old farm implements scattered around the property. It also has a campground which is famous for its restrooms with flush toilets.

 One of the couples, Jane and Charlie, were caretaking for the month of September and the other couple, Larry and Wilma, were caretaking for the month of October. Mona thought it would be fun to spend a several days with each of the couples so we planned the trip for the last week in September and the first week in October.

There are 4 ways to get to Kirkwood Ranch. The first, and by far the most popular, is to just jet boat in. The next is to Raft down the Snake River.  Many rafters use Kirkwood Ranch as an overnight spot. The third is to hike along the canyon for 6 miles along the well-established rail. And finally you can take an ATV which very few people do so it must not be the best method of travel.

 Mona and I thought it would be the most fun to jet boat in and then hiked out. But since we are at the end of the tourist season none of the tour operators wanted to run their boats up the river just for two people. So, Mona and I ended up hiking both directions.

We were a little concerned about backpacking at first since neither of us have been backpacking in years. To be honest though, we really didn't have fully loaded backpacks since we were staying with our friends in the house we didn't need to carry a tent, sleeping bag or food. For those of you that know Mona you will not be surprised that she insisted that we carry in beer and wine and some of her homemade cookies for our friends.  After all, Jane and Charlie had been there for a month without resupply and were sure to be out of these necessities.

This is the only Wildlife we saw on the trail.

 We hiked the trail just as the leaves were starting to change into their fall colors. Much of the trail is a real cliffhanger. I would definitely not recommend it for anyone that scared of heights. One misstep and you would be a goner.

 That's Kirkwood Ranch way down there. Only one more mile to go!

 We Made It!

 And here we are at Kirkwood Ranch. That's the museum in the foreground and the farmhouse behind it. You will notice that there is snow in them their hills.

We stayed in one of the bedrooms upstairs in the farmhouse.  There are three bedrooms upstairs.  To get to the downstairs kitchen-office area you have to climb down a ladder.  The kitchen has an old wood burning stove which was used for heating and cooking.  I wish had taken more pictures of the farmhouse but I have something better.  Shortly before we arrived a film crew from Voice of America did a short video of Jane and Charlie as volunteer caretakers.  Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2xZnaxFbxk

The farmhouse has indoor plumbing.  Nice except to get to the unheated bathroom you have to go outside through a porch.  There is a bathtub in there, a concrete cast affair, half of which is under a wall.  It works as a shower though.  You wouldn't want to take a bath as the tub has really deteriorated over the years.

 For all my old telecommunication buddies, The farmhouse had an old telephone system. As you can tell, it didn't work, since the local critters like to chew on the wires.

 One day we went hiking up to the Carter Mansion. This place was built by a guy who made his fortune as a bootlegger. To escape the law he built this really nice Cabin in the backcountry. He eventually went to jail though.

 You can get an idea of how nice it must have been by looking at the molding he used.

 The outside walls were made of vertical logs that he chinked and then covered with strips of  sheet  metal.

  It is on the list of historical places but with nobody taking care of it it isn't going to last long.  The forest service has no money, nor interest, in maintaining the place.

 The forest service uses a jet boat to transfer the caretakers and their supplies in and out. We said goodbye to Jane and Charlie and welcomed Wilma and Larry.

 Mona tried her hand at fly fishing. This time she didn't catch herself. The day before Charlie and I when fishing for bass. We caught one on just about every other cast. Then all of a sudden it stopped. It was like someone had thrown a switch and said dinner time was over.

 After Larry and Wilma arrived we went on a hike further upriver towards a place called Suicide Point There must be an interesting story behind that name but no one seems to know what it is.

 Here is a view looking down river at the Kirkwood Ranch area.

 One of the caretakers must have been really bored as they labeled where all the farm implements where to be hung on the wall. My favorite is the "brush axe". It's the cleaning brush in the upper left hand corner.

 On our hike out we were passed by Peddy and Rebecca. A young Australian couple who were traveling the country for several months in an old van they bought upon arriving in the states. Actually, they passed us twice on the trail. Once when they were running in and once when they were running out.  With all the drop offs down to the river we were nervous hiking the trail.  I can't imagine running it! Ah, to be young again.

 Near the trailhead parking lot there is an area with several petroglyphs. It was nice to stretch our legs a little bit without the backpacks before we took the long drive home.  Walking was much easier the day after a the hike out than the one in.   It must have been because we weren't carrying beer and wine.  It had all been consumed!