Early summer 2003 we set sail down the Snake river into Hells canyon. The river was flowing at a fast 33,000 ft/sec -- it was an adventure
we all had our own vision of what was to come to fill in the blanks ... i dont think many of us had a solid idea of what really was ahead
this is our first camp. it was a huge grassy area with this perfect shade tree which soon became our gathering place. Down the bank to the right was a nice place where Dave caught a bunch of bass from the shore. That night you could feel the electricity in the air as heavy dark clouds rolled in and brought a rumbling light show--it was warm when the heavy rains began--it was a little like living in "the lord of the flies"
here's to you, rapids
there were big waves like this everywhere at times, its one of the main reasons you go rafting
sometimes we took turns
at times it was wild. it was always amazing to be surrounded by such huge steep canyon walls
it had been raining for days days before we began so the mountains were covered in a bright green vegitation
it was amazing
we camped up against a rock wall. we cooked and hung out here but our tents were about 60 yards down shore in a grassier area
it was like camping on the moon
i flipped upside down in a kayak in that water there--in the end i had to pull skirt and swim with the paddle to shore-a few people jumped into the paddle boat and rescued the kayak. the water was very fast further out. there's an eddy in the strech near the shore so it's slower in close. a class 5 rapid was only about 100 yards down stream--we all left together, i was atempting the kayak & i almost went down it in the kayak... i fortunately made it to the bank in time.
we heard a wicked rumble in the mountain above us so we investigated. there was a giant mudslide running down the mountain-side from above
it was pulling down trees. there was a rock the size of a VW beetle, rocking back & forth in the middle of the flow--it shook the ground--the slide was a mix of water, mud and debris (mostly trees)
[b]it dumped mud and trees into the river-we were lucky we pulled out when we did-it looked like chocolate milk...with logs in it
Lon kayaked a very large portion of the snake river through hells canyon and made it look pretty easy and i know it was very choppy often--good job Lon
case in point
then we ran out of film--booo... the rest of the trip was awesome... todd and scott fly fished... we swam... drank a couple cases of rockstars... it was an exhilerating experience--nature heightend my senses in the wild
