As the Snake River flows north out of Hell’s Canyon, there is a quiet place where the current takes a curious turnabout. It moves down the center of the river and turns upstream along the rocky shoreline. These waters cast hypnotic powers upon the occasional drifting log that circles by.

Time becomes disjointed, and you cannot tell whether the log lingers for minutes or hours before it continues downriver. We call this place Buffalo Eddy, but people who were here long ago called it ilokotbatki. Basalt boulders at the river’s edge boast a rich gallery of prehistoric rock. Some petroglyphs here date from about 4500 years ago, when the pharaohs built Egypt’s oldest pyramids. Like other sites of the Nez Perce National Historical Park, this one reaches back to time immemorial. Read more at www.nps.gov.

Logo courtesy National Park Service