White water in Hell!

It sure sounds good as a topic :-)

I recently went for a road trip to Hells Canyon in Oregon with a colleague of mine. His wife was out of country. so it was only 2 of us on road for 3 days.

It was quite amazing to experience. It was the most unplanned trip ever so far in my life.. My initial plans for the long week end in May'08 bombed due to inclement weather in Yellowstone National park predicted for that week end. i was bit disappointed that i was gonna miss that.. it was then i met this ex-colleague of mine in a farewell lunch of our mutual friend.. he was telling us about his long road trip.. Just then , it struck me , i had never been in roadtrips that lasted more than a day of driving.. i asked him if he was interested in one for the long weekend.. he just was excited for a roadtrip as i was..

But, we had no clue as to where to drive.. i was clear on my requirement -- drive in car in unknown land as long as i can.. ( i was in fact planning to take my car for such a drive if nothing works out).. Just a day before the start of long week end, he suggested Hells Canyon, i just googled the name and it was listed as a scenic drive... Thats all the motivation i needed.. Unfortunately, rest of my friends were unavailable.. so it was only 2 of us and all we had was just a name of the drive...!!

It was really exciting as we had absolutely no expectation and so anything was better !! we rented a Camry, keyed-in the destination "Hells Canyon Recreational Area" and blasted off I-90

It turned out to be really awesome drive

Day 1
Seattle,WA -> Lewiston,OR -> Enterprise,OR

Enterprise had population of 2000!! i was really amazed with the small town (village?) we halted in a small inn to recharge ourselves..

Day 2
Enterprise,OR -> Joseph,OR -> Imnaha,OR -> Enterprise,OR -> Baker City,OR -> Halfway,OR

Morning break fast was unforgettable, we had it in a one of the local cafes, where "Every body knew every customer"!! we were the only non locals but still i felt so much at home!

Halfway turned out to be smaller than Enterprise!
it was so nice to see banner commomerating the High school graduation in all the light pole with the poster of the students!!

Day 3
We headed for the Hells Canyon dam.. it was really nice drive following the snake river up till the dam. We then walked a trail that was following the river beyond the dam..

Coming to the topic, it was a gushing swirling water, even though dam was not fully open. Water is so calm but can stand up to heavens with a roar when it matters! we saw water in one such manifestation.. it was pure white with agitation.. thats when i noticed it.. it was in its most unruly form, unpredictable..

When i was sitting over the rock in the bank, i saw the gushing water as a we humans with our life in fast forward.. there are so many of us, yet we are all same.. we travel in same direction through time.. some of us wanting to move faster than the rest, while some refusing to move forward but nevertheless pushed forward (by time) .. and some of us scale new heights while some face new troughs!!