HELLS CANYON, SEVEN DEVILS TREK AND FLOAT

Itinerary:

Getting Here: Most of our participants fly into Boise and drive to Pollock (about 3 hours) the day before their trip. Consider staying with us the night before at the Little Salmon Lodge for charming riverside lodging, great food, and warm hospitality.

Pre-Trip Orientation: Whether you stay with us or somewhere else, the night before your trip, join us a the Little Salmon Lodge for your pre-trip orientation. At this optional get together, you will get to know your guides, fellow trekkers and we'll go over our packing list to ensure each of us is ready to head into the wilderness in the morning. We'll also answer any last minute trip questions you may have. The pre-trip orientation is typically around 7 p.m.

Day 1: Plan to be to our Lodge by 7:30am for an 8:00am departure. From the lodge we will drive 17 miles up to Windy Saddle at nearly 8,000 ft elevation. Depending upon the group's ability and interests, we'll head out to explore a variety of stunning and remote wilderness. We typically camp near one of the dozens of pristine alpine lakes in the Seven Devils. We'll enjoy a good meal by the campfire, sit back and get ready for some of the best star gazing of your life.

Days 2-3: After a hearty breakfast, we will discuss our options for the next two day's hiking. We have the option to explore the backcountry and fly-fish in the high alpine lakes. We can choose to attempt a non-technical climb of one of the major peaks in the mountain range. Or we can simply stick to the trails and explore the region on foot. We can either keep a base camp set up each night, to lighten our loads for the day, or we can continue heading deeper into the wilderness - it's up to you.

If we plan to hike out at Windy Saddle, we'll return to the Little Salmon Lodge on the third day and enjoy a hot shower and meal (and bed) before beginning the Hells Canyon rafting adventure in the morning.

If we plan to descend the canyon to the river, we'll head further into the wilderness and camp at Hibbs Cow Camp in preparation for our descent the following morning.

Day 4: Assuming we've stayed in the wilderness, on our final day of hiking, we descend more than 6,500 feet into Hells Canyon. The terrain changes rapidly from alpine to sub-alpine and finally to desert as we reach the canyon floor. Here we will meet our river expedition team and begin the two- to four-day rafting portion of the trip through America’s deepest canyon - which you will have surveyed from 7,000 feet above the river! We typically meet our rafting party and camp for the evening around 4pm. A hot shower and gourmet meal will rejuvenate tired bodies and prepare us for the next phase of our adventure.

Days 5-7: The next several days you will enjoy Class III-IV whitewater, awesome river meals, hot showers, and a new set of travelers. See the Snake River Rafting trip for more explicit details. You can choose to complete your journey on the river on Day 6 at Pittsburg Landing or continue on for Days 7 & 8 and take out at Heller Bar.

Day 8: On the final day of our journey, we typically arrive back to the boat ramp around 2:00pm, where we quickly load our boats and head back to the Lodge. You can expect to arrive to the Little Salmon Lodge around 6:00 p.m. Most people choose to spend their last night with us at the Little Salmon Lodge.

Note for making departing flights after the trip: Please do not schedule any departing flights for the last day of the river trip. Most people prefer to spend this last night at our lodge and drive to Boise in the morning to catch an early afternoon flight. If you must catch a morning flight, you will most likely prefer to drive to Boise on the last night of the trip and expect to arrive in Boise around 9-10pm. Call us if you have any questions about appropriate flight times.

Download Detailed Description & Itinerary Files

• Hells Canyon Trek & Float Detailed Trip Info 2008.pdf