Day 1: Driving Hours to Hike in the Rain
The first day consisted of packing the final items in our packs, driving four hours to the Upper Pittsburg Landing Trailhead, and then hiking the Snake River Trail for 6 miles to our camp at the Kirkwood Historic Ranch. We knew the weather was going to be questionable so we weren't surprised when it started to rain within the first mile of hiking. Although it was raining and overcast, we still had amazing views of the Snake River and Hells Canyon. We stopped at a stream crossing around mile 2 to have dinner since it was getting late and the rain had stopped temporarily. It was our first tasting of the freeze dried meals I prepared from Backpack Gourmet's cookbook--the Cowboy Pasta was tasty (thanks to Mom, Dad, Andy and Jenn for buying us all the stuff we needed). Afterward, we loaded up and hiked the final four miles. After passing through grassy terrain that consisted of Hackberry bushes, wildflowers, catcus, boulders, and poison ivy we arrived at the Kirkwood Historic Ranch around 7 or 7:30 pm. We set up the tent and hung the bear bags just before it started to really pour down on us, so all that was left for the night was changing into dry clothes and hunkering down in our tent. We were pleasantly surprised that the camping area, which was the only one within the first six miles, just had one other backpacker (Mark). Since this is a popular trail and it was a holiday weekend, we knew more were likely to come the next couple of days.
Video: Hike to Kirkwood Historic Ranch
Video: Rain Entertainment
Day 2: Gorgeous Hiking Combined with my Claustrophobia and Fear of Drowning
The next morning we woke up early, grabbed our bear bags, ate a delicious homemade freeze dried breakfast casserole, and packed up for our climb up to Suicide Point. The two mile hike up to Suicide Point was incredible but terrifying for me. The route climbed over very steep rocky ledges that were cut out of a rock face hundreds of feet above the river, so basically on one side of me was a rock wall and on the other side was an immediate 200 - 300 foot drop to the fast flowing Snake River. One wrong step and you're dead. That is the beauty of hiking the backcountry -- if you take the risks the rewards are usually very sweet. We made it up to Suicide Point in good time, sat down and ate some snacks and enjoyed the incredible views.
Next, we headed back to the Kirkwood Ranch to set up our tent again (we knew we should claim our territory before more backpackers arrived), do a quick hike to Carter Mansion and explore the Kirkwood Museum that had artifacts from old homesteads in the canyon. On our quick mile hike up to the "mansion" we had to cross several ad hoc bridges that Jake did not particularly like crossing, but it was very entertaining for me. The mansion was sadly not taken care of and was in terrible condition. The floors were covered in rat "deposits" and the walls and ceilings were all falling apart. The best part, after you walk in and look around it is not until you leave you realize that there is a notice beside the door saying visitors have a slight risk of getting hantavirus. According to the Mayo Clinic, you become infected primarily by breathing air infected with hantaviruses that are shed in rodent urine and droppings and they recommend avoiding rodents and their habitats--too late for that. Thankfully, we are not exhibiting any symptoms of the virus, but we would not recommend going inside the Mansion to anyone else (and they should really post the warning OUTSIDE the mansion BEFORE you are exposed to the rat droppings).
After the quick day hike, we went back to the ranch and ate a mega meal (since it was evening time and we did not eat lunch). The third homemade meal was not nearly as delicious as the others because the amount of salt was overwhelming, but it was edible enough. We didn't do much else that night beside filter water and play a very short game of Phase 10. In the late evening it started to rain again, which was fine with us because we were already in our tent, and it was very soothing to fall asleep to (I got the best night of sleep I have had while backpacking thanks to the very comfortable sleeping pad that Katie and Jeannie got me!).
Video: Morning Activities
Video: Historic Sites
Video: Hike to Suicide Point and Carter Mansion
Video: Night 2 - Back at Kirkwood Ranch
Day 3: Pack up and Head out
The next morning I woke up to Jake barking because a deer was just outside our tent. I haven't mentioned it yet, but on this trip we saw many deer and a couple mountain goats. Every morning, we saw deer grazing in the fields where we were camping and they were not afraid to come within feet of humans.
We, once again, ate some breakfast casserole and packed up for another day of hiking. Before leaving, we asked Mark to help us filter some water because our filter was dying and we knew there was only one stream crossing for the next six miles, it was going to be a hot, and at parts a difficult climb. After filtering enough water to fill our Nalgenes, we headed up and out of the Ranch. In the first 0.6 mile we climbed 470 feet, which did not feel great on my tight muscles. Shortly after reaching the top and traversing a steep hillside we realized Mark was not too far behind us, so we took a quick break to let him catch up. We offered to let him pass but he wanted to hike out with us, so as a group of three with a dog, we headed out of the canyon.
Around mile 3 we stopped on a steep rocky outcrop above the river to have a few snacks and once again enjoy the beautiful view. It was very peaceful to sit on the shady rock ledge, watch the powerful river, talk with friends, eat much needed food, and soak the moment in.
Afterward, we put our packs on again and began our final 3 miles out of the canyon. Around the four mile marker, something with force ran into the back of my left leg so I said "what the hell was that?!?" But, before anyone knew what was going on, a loose dog was getting ready to fight Jake. Brian held Jake while Mark and I tried to shoo the dog away. I turned around looking for the owner but saw no one, so I started shouting "HELLOOOOOOOO." No one responded so we just yelled at the dog until he ran off. Shortly up the trail, we saw a couple of fisherman on the river who called the dog towards them (way to be a responsible dog owner). After it was over, it provided some good laughs, but that dog is lucky Mark didn't grab my bear spray.
The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful and we reached the parking lots without much trouble. Parts of the final climb were tough, but that was mostly because I could see the end but had to climb several more steep hills to reach it. All in all, this hike ranks number two on our backpacking list (with the Seven Devils loop ranking first). It was a beautiful hike and the weather mostly cooperated.
Video: Day 3 - Hike back to Trailhead
Route: Our GPS Route (click on right hand corner for elevation profile)
