Looking Into Hell's Canyon from Hat Point Lookout

After we left Joseph Oregon, we went to a small community called Imnaha, Oregon.  From Imnaha we headed up the mountain to Hat Point Lookout.  From the top you can see the Snake River running through the bottom of Hell's Canyon.  You can gaze at the Seven Devils Mountains.

  

We traveled up a forest service road.  A narrow, steep and twisty dirt road.  With courtesy on-coming traffic can get by. There are no guard rails.  We traveled about 15-20 miles per hour sometimes less.

Looking through the windshield.

Shot from moving car.

This was taken at the first overlook.  It is an impressive view.

Then we started up the road again.  In the next picture look for the blue ribbon on the left side.  That is is Snake River.

At this point it is a vertical mile to the canyon floor. 

 The sign tells of a rock slide that created a dam in the canyon bottom over 400 feet high 10 - 15,000 years ago.  Today most of the rock dam is gone except for some boulders.  

The left over boulders from that landslide create the white water rapids that you see in this picture of the Snake River.  I am standing at the top of Hat Point taking this picture.  The rapids are a vertical mile from the top of Hat Point.

Hat Point Lookout fire tower is 82 feet to the top of the tower.  It is manned every summer.  Visitors are allowed to climb the stairs and have a look.  Yours truly did not climb those stairs!