We Spent The Day In Hell - Yay!

There is an old saying: "Tact is the ability to tell a man to go to Hell, and have him happy to be on his way." As long as I am not yet dead, I LOVE going to Hell. We have been running around like crazy for about 10 days now, so when this day dawned clear and sunny and we had no pressing matters to handle I asked for a special treat from @longsilver: "Can we go to Hell?"

My husband is staring down a long work week with long commutes. I hate to ask him to spend more time in a car but now and then I just get a hankering to go to Hell and today was a perfect day for it. He suggested we do a hot soak while we were there, but that meant getting the canoe an "invasive species" sticker and that was not possible with no notice, so we will try to do that in a week or two. Today we just took the camera and went to enjoy the weather.

We live on the rim of Hell's Canyon, and it allows us to make some very interesting - and true - claims. We know one of the men who paved the road to Hell. His name is Norm, a great guy, with nothing but the best of intentions. This is what the road crew and some locals call "Hell's Gate" as it looks from the north (descending into Hell, if you will. )

Hell's Gate: You Did Not Expect Snow, Did You?



It was originally a dirt road and when the county paved it this "gate" had smaller and fewer trees around it. From the south (ascending from Hell) you can see a more gate-like effect:

The highway winds along the creek for several miles before meeting the Snake River officially reaching Hell.

Welcome to Hell!



The further you descend into the depths of Hell the more obvious it becomes that it is Hell... or not... This shot is completely unedited, no cropping, no filters, just raw Hell for you.



Left of center in that photo is a little white patch. That is calcite, deposited by a luxurious hot spring. That is where we hoped to soak today, but we must seek the blessings of the state before we put our canoe on the water. Allow me to share one more terrifying glimpse into Hell for today, then I will quit. I don't want you to have nightmares or anything. But fair warning. Tomorrow I will show you Hell rocks.

These photos are of the south end of the deepest gorge in North America. It forms the border between Idaho and Oregon. The Snake River flows south to north through it and it is an amazing, wild place. Whitewater rafting, jet boat rides, world class steelhead and sturgeon fishing trips are among the recreational opportunities in this little slice of heaven we call Hell's Canyon.

All photos taken today with Fuji FinePix S8300.
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NAMASTE'!