Ken Fitzgerald
Member
- Messages
- 2,322
The corporation by whom I'm employed allows my work group co-workers and I to get together once a year on the company tab and then the expenditures are limited. The past couple of years the group got together to spend a night in a motel, a nice dinner and go to a hockey game. Though I played hockey as a kid, I'm not much for watching sports except football and baseball. So this year when the subject came up I opened my mouth and said "How about a jet boat trip tour of Hell's Canyon?" The Snake River starts in Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone Park and flows southwest across southern Idaho but then it turns and runs straight north separating Idaho and Oregon and then Idaho and Washington. Hell's Canyon is the deepest canyon on the North American Continent. It starts about 140 miles south of Lewiston. The Hell's Canyon dam is about 108 miles south of Lewiston. So.....they said check into the costs....I did and they approved it. Date 9/29/2007. So....on Friday, 9/28/2007..it rained....not like it does on the coasts of Washington and Oregon but that nasty drizzle that if it continues for 24 hours we get .3-.5 inches and the temperatures on Friday got up to a high of 58º F. I'm thinking tomorrow...OH BOY! The LOML and I discussed it and we invited all 22 people over to our house for a cookout following Saturday's trip.
Saturday morning, dawned.....48º F....but clearing.....soon it actually cleared.....we boarded the jet boat at 0745 and departed at 0800. It kept on clearing and the temps kept going up. That afternoon it actually got up to 65º F. We saw some very hearty rafters...or crazy depending on your view. Look at the one photo ...can you see the guy in the kayak?
We saw golden eagles, mule deer and Bighorn sheep. The high country had fresh snow...first of the season. We stopped at the famous Kirkwood ranch which was ranched by Len Jordan who later was Governor of Idaho and a US Senator representing Idaho. We went through several class 3 and class 4 rapids. There were 26 adults and 4 children on the trip and we all throroughly enjoyed ourselves. Later Sharon and I hosted 22 people at our small humble home for a cookout. Our oldest son, the deputy sheriff came over 3 hours before we got back from the boat trip. He and his wife put together the salads Sharon had fixed and cooked burgers, brats and hotdogs to add to the pork ribs Sharon had already fixed and put in the slow cooker.
That evening after everyone left Sharon and I collapsed. Sunday I insisted she remain in bed. I put up all the tables, chairs and did all the dishes from the previous evening.
It was a tiring and fun day!
Photos for those of you not familiar with Idaho....Hell's Canyon....God's Country IMHO!
Saturday morning, dawned.....48º F....but clearing.....soon it actually cleared.....we boarded the jet boat at 0745 and departed at 0800. It kept on clearing and the temps kept going up. That afternoon it actually got up to 65º F. We saw some very hearty rafters...or crazy depending on your view. Look at the one photo ...can you see the guy in the kayak?
We saw golden eagles, mule deer and Bighorn sheep. The high country had fresh snow...first of the season. We stopped at the famous Kirkwood ranch which was ranched by Len Jordan who later was Governor of Idaho and a US Senator representing Idaho. We went through several class 3 and class 4 rapids. There were 26 adults and 4 children on the trip and we all throroughly enjoyed ourselves. Later Sharon and I hosted 22 people at our small humble home for a cookout. Our oldest son, the deputy sheriff came over 3 hours before we got back from the boat trip. He and his wife put together the salads Sharon had fixed and cooked burgers, brats and hotdogs to add to the pork ribs Sharon had already fixed and put in the slow cooker.
That evening after everyone left Sharon and I collapsed. Sunday I insisted she remain in bed. I put up all the tables, chairs and did all the dishes from the previous evening.
It was a tiring and fun day!
Photos for those of you not familiar with Idaho....Hell's Canyon....God's Country IMHO!