From Dedication Point (see previous post) I drove southeast along the top of the canyon to get to an overlook for a small dam which crosses the river. I should also mention that on the long, seemingly-straight road I showed you in the previous post, road planners threw in several 90 degree turns just to make sure I was paying attention. Now, as I drove southeast they threw in a 180 degree turn just to make sure I was REALLY paying attention.
Actually the 180 was to allow the road to descend through a series of switchbacks to get down to near river-level (where the camper was parked), for the dam workers and for recreational boaters to launch (above the dam). The 9o degree turns were to adjust for the river working its way northward as it flows west.
The view here was a little different from where I had just been but I will just cut to the chase and show you another panorama from this spot. You may be able to make out the dam in the right-hand side of the photo. Water levels along much of the river are controlled by a dam way back before the water gets to the Hells Canyon rapids, to try and maintain a constant water level after the snowmelt from the Seven Devil’s mountain range, and others, feed into it.
I didn’t stay at this location very long as my next viewing spot would open at 10 am and I still had a long drive to get there.
Going back to retrace my steps from Kuna this was driving northwest towards Dedication Point
When I started driving north towards Kuna and the dreaded interstate I noticed this just off the left side of the road:
“Look, honey, I found the only tree out here, so we can build our dream-nest in it!”
Once I got back to Kuna I headed west to get to another road which would take me south to return to the river. I was only a few miles west of where I had just been but the scenery was very different.
Lush farmer’s fields on both sides of the highway. What a difference some irrigation makes! More on that in a future post, but I’m not quite done with the Snake River just yet…
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