Jettin' It

 

Spring is a favorite time for us... mostly because there's not a lot we can do around here - so we get a little time away to play!  This week we were treated to a jet boat ride by Hell's Canyon Adventures. Brandy from HCA offered us a free tour so we'd be better able to talk to our guests about the offerings that HCA has.

 We arrived a little early since it was our first time down that far in the canyon and we weren't sure how long it'd take!  We spent the time letting Pickett stretch her legs & check out some new smells. 

The dam was letting a lot of water out -  55,000 cps (max is around 70,000).  Pretty cool to watch from below!

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Here's a video of the river from this point:



 The view downstream was sure pretty from the launch point!

 

After waiting some time for another passenger, we were finally ready to go!











 The first thing we got to enjoy - were some Mountain goats up on the rocks!









And then some beautiful scenery!!

 

The river running through the canyon is beautiful in the spring!

The ride itself was quite exhilarating on the jet boat!  Going through rapids is great fun - a can be a little wet!

And... a video of the ride! 


We weren't able to go as far down the river a they normally do, because of how high the river was running.

The white mark denotes where the river flows when the dam is letting out the max (70,000 cfs) - you can see that the 55,000 cfs is only about 12" below that.  

So, we pulled out just above a major rapids that they don't run when it's that high (going down might be ok, but coming back through?)

 

We did see some great views and these pretty flowers where we pulled out.  And, got another pic of us!

 On our way back downstream, we saw a sweet little deer

And then we pulled out again at a popular camping spot for rafters.  It was once a campsite for those who went before - who knows how long ago the ancients dug the pit house?  And - left these amazing pictographs (their version of pre-historic graffiti!) 

 
 Before pulling into the launch point, our wonderful river guide (Dusty) took us up close to the dam!

This video gives you a better feeling of what it was like!

When we returned, we decided to walk down to a trailhead on the other side of the dam.  This trail was a little unusual: 

  

And... the dam was pretty cool up close!

And, on our way down - saw a "fish transport" truck.  Did you know that they catch the fish on the reservoir side in the spring & truck them past the 2 dams & let them go in the river?  And in the fall, they do the opposite!  Seems pretty labor-intensive and ineffective, but... that's how our government rolls.

That pretty much finished up the day... We had a great time!