Hells Canyon, Oregon 11/23-11/24

[jessbee]

With all my relatives on the East Coast and myself on the West Coast, Thanksgiving weekend turned into a great opportunity to go camping.

I drove way out to the eastern corner of the state to explore Hells Canyon, a deep gorge cut by the Snake River that divides Oregon from Idaho. The only open trailhead led to a rough bushwhacking route so that's what I took. Most of the roads leading to the upper elevations are socked in with snow. Although I hit a nasty snowstorm driving through the Wallowas, the snow chains remained in the trunk of the car and I made it to the canyon unscathed.

Read my full (long) trip report .

Or, look at the pictures.

A fun time for sure! Lots of hard work was rewarded with amazing views, plenty of animal sign, and solitude not found in the popular hiking spots near the city.

 

[Double Bow]

Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure. I'll have to get out there someday...

 

[Lovetohike]

Jess,
Nice pictures and trip report. You seem to keep your cool pretty well dealing with the uncertainties and difficulties of a solo backpack/bushwack when you also know that you're completely on your own with very little likelihood of running into anyone. I give you a lot of credit for that! Thanks for letting us in on your adventure.

 

[audrey]

That was quite an adventure! There are so many wonderful places in this country...so little time...thanks for showing me yet another one!

 

[Maddy]

What an incredible adventure and thanks so much for sharing it.
The pics are beautiful.

 

[Artex]

Killer pics. Glad to see you're enjoying your new home.

 

[SherpaKroto]

Most Excellent!

 

[Kevin Rooney]

jessbee -

Re: the red spongey rock - I don't know the technical name for them, but mostly I've heard them just called 'bombs'. They're created during a volcanic eruption, and are those bits of lava that get tossed high in the sky, solidifying on the way down. That's what gives them that charactoristic shape.

Kevin

 

[sapblatt]

Awesome

Jess -
Another place I have to go - great pics - this one is an award winner!

 

[DougPaul]

Re: the red spongey rock - I don't know the technical name for them, but mostly I've heard them just called 'bombs'. They're created during a volcanic eruption, and are those bits of lava that get tossed high in the sky, solidifying on the way down. That's what gives them that charactoristic shape.

Pumice, perhaps.

Some are light enough to float on water.

Doug

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Pumice, perhaps.

Some are light enough to float on water.

Doug

Nope, not pumice Doug. This stuff is way too heavy, and it's not porous, although from the picture it's hard to tell that the holes don't extend much below the surface.

 

[mtnmama]

Solo

Hi Jess...looks like your still having fun!!!!
Nice trip report & great pics.

 

[David Metsky]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_bomb - Lava bombs, perhaps?

Great trip report, very nice insights into your state of mind. Happy Thanksgiving!

-dave-

 

[Kevin Rooney]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_bomb - Lava bombs, perhaps?

Great trip report, very nice insights into your state of mind. Happy Thanksgiving!

-dave-

Could very well be, Dave. Have seen several of the Spherical bombs


Edit: Sent jessbee's photo to a friend, and got this email back:

True bombs usually have tails, as shown in these examples from Glendale College

http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/earthsci/imagearchive/bombs.htm

Your example has large gas bubbles, which indicate high dissolved gas content when the lava surfaced. I think your example was not hurled though the air since it doesn't look much like the bombs. It was probably extruded, broken up by mechanical forces, then rounded off in a stream bed or by other erosional process.

 

[DougPaul]

Nope, not pumice Doug. This stuff is way too heavy, and it's not porous, although from the picture it's hard to tell that the holes don't extend much below the surface.

I'd say it is rather impossible to tell the density of the rock by looking at a picture...

Another possibility is scoria, which is usually denser than pumice.

Doug

 

[jessbee]

Thanks for all the kind words guys, Oregon totally rocks.

Speaking of rocks...
That red bubbly rock is definitely igneous but, as KR's friend said, probably formed into the smooth shape by the creek. The creekbed was fairly dry when I hiked there but it fills up in the spring and was probably higher in years past. It wasn't pumice, because this rock was much more dense. Scoria is a possibility.

I was more interested in what this rock might be. It had bits and pieces from every color of the rainbow. There were huge boulders made of this stuff. Walking through the creek was really wild because there were stones made of all different types of rocks together in one spot. I wished I had a rock field guide with me.

Now to plan the next adventure, there are just so many choices!

PS It snowed in Portland today