{"id":1482,"date":"2015-10-22T13:34:31","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T20:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christofteuscher.com\/aagaa\/?p=1482"},"modified":"2023-05-30T13:20:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T20:20:26","slug":"announcement-riggins-to-imnaha-hells-canyon-traverse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christofteuscher.com\/aagaa\/announcement-riggins-to-imnaha-hells-canyon-traverse\/","title":{"rendered":"NEWS: Riggins-to-Imnaha Hells Canyon Traverse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\r\n Read the report here<\/a>.\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\n

Hells Canyon is the deepest canyon (7,993ft\/2,436m)\u00a0in North America. It is located\u00a0along the border of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, so pretty much in our backyard (Figure 1). Check out some cool facts about Hells Canyon here<\/a>\u00a0or here<\/a>.\u00a0Figure 2 shows a comparison of the Hells and the Grand Canyon.<\/p>\n

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Figure 1. Hells Canyon is conveniently located in the Pacific Northwest.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Figure 2. Hells vs Grand Canyon. I think we win. Source:\u00a0http:\/\/www.fs.usda.gov\/detail\/wallowa-whitman\/specialplaces\/?cid=stelprdb5239080<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

On Saturday, Oct 24, 2015, I will attempt\u00a0a supported solo traverse of the canyon. To add a bit more meat to the challenge, I will start in Riggins, ID, climb the 9,400ft high He Devil<\/a>, the highest peak in the Seven Devils Mountains, then cross the canyon to Hat Point, and finally run from Hat Point to Imnaha (see Figure 3). The total distance will be about 60 miles with 16,000ft of elevation gain. Figure 4 shows an elevation profile of the traverse. The Grand Canyon elevation profile is included for comparison.<\/p>\n

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Figure 3. The Riggins-to-Imnaha Hells Canyon traverse. The route is approximately 60mi long with 16,000ft of elevation gain.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Figure 4. Elevation profile of the\u00a0Riggins-to-Imnaha\u00a0<\/em>Hells Canyon traverse.\u00a0The Grand Canyon profile is shown\u00a0for comparison.<\/em><\/p>\n

While Hells Canyon double-crossings have previously been done (e.g., see\u00a0http:\/\/gearjunkie.com\/hells-canyon-idaho-rim-to-rim<\/a>), I am not aware that someone attempted to extend the traverse from Riggins to Imnaha and included the He Devil. For comparison, a classic Grand Canyon double crossing<\/a> (rim-to-rim-to-rim or R3) is\u2014depending on the route\u2014about 45mi long with 12,000ft of elevation gain.<\/p>\n

Besides the usual uncertainty on such adventures, there is\u00a0a number of additional challenges to overcome on this Hells Canyon traverse.<\/p>\n