After the hardships of the mountain passage, Weippe Prairie brought relief to the Corps of Discovery. The Nez Perce befriended them and renewed their hope of reaching the Pacific Ocean. Meriwether Lewis wrote on September 22, 1805, of the pleasure of having triumphed over the Rocky Mountains and descended once more to a level and fertile country where there was every rational hope of finding comfortable subsistence for himself and his party, and of the pleasing prospect of the expedition's final success. On the return journey, they were happy to come back to this beautiful place, where they could hunt and secure meat for the trip over the mountains. They arrived in late spring when the camas was in full bloom, and Lewis wrote on June 12, 1806, that from a short distance its color resembled lakes of fine clear water.