July 4, 2013: Caldwell, ID to Hells Canyon, ID

Happy 4th of July! 

We drove west from the Boise area to Hells Canyon that sits on both sides of the Snake River separating Idaho and Oregon.  We first drove up the Idaho side, crossed over to Oregon near the Brownlee Dam and crossed back again into Idaho near the Oxbow Dam and up through the scenic canyon.  There is a campground established and maintained by the Idaho Power Co., about 20 miles south of the third and last dam, Hells Canyon, and we were lucky to get one of the last five open spots with electricity and water, overlooking the Snake River.

It was 98 degrees, so no hiking.  We decided to drive the 20 crooked miles up to the dam and explore their visitor center.  The canyon near the campground is soft brown hills, but became more rugged as we drove downstream.

A glimpse of the rugged canyon downstream from the dam

The visitor center is the end of the road and had a good movie explaining the history of the canyon.  On our return trip, we met this poor guy.

  The water is clear and we saw literally thousands of fish.  This is a fisherman's paradise.

 

We returned to the RV, waiting for it to cool down to sit outside.  It didn't cool off very much, but a breeze came up and with no humidity, it was comfortable.  No fireworks of any kind allowed here because of the threat of fire, so it was a relatively quiet Independence Day.

It is hard to believe we have been on the road for a month - time flies when you are having fun.  We have put just under 5,000 miles to go less thhan 3,000 miles from home.  Obviously, we have not followed the shortest line between two points, but have been meandering around to enjoy the nicest scenery and try to keep that bucket list from overflowing.