Rock Rugged Road Trip Pt. 1 // Hells Canyon
This last Summer I had the incredible opportunity to travel with a few people through the PNW and Canada. Myself (as a blogger) and two photographers -
and
- were asked to join the creator of a new (not yet released) app to help build content for his website and the app itself -
. I was asked to join this trip just a couple days beforehand, and had to scramble to clear my schedule. I didn't really care about the lack of sleep and my poorly packed bag, I was going to do whatever it took to make it on this trip! And I did.
We started the journey out by driving through Northern Utah and Idaho, with plans to spend the night in a small town in Washington. Our first stop was at a gas station in Idaho, purely for the llama pictures. Can you really blame us? We had a great time interacting with the llamas, grabbed some quick snacks, then continued north toward Washington. However, all of our US plans had to change as we drove, due to the fires that were burning most of the PNW. After a quick google search, I suggested we try out Hell's Canyon. None of us had heard of it before, but the information online promised that it was a hidden gem.
By the time we reached the canyon, night had fallen and we weren't really sure what it was we were looking at. We drove until we reached a dead end, passing bears and dams as we went, then spent the night camping in the truck. When we awoke the next morning, we were welcomed with one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. The Snake River cuts through Hell's Canyon while sheer mountains tower over either side, and the road winds through - hugging the mountainside as it goes. The sky was clouded over with smoke from the nearby fires, making the colors soft and moody.
After we had each gotten our fill of picture-taking, we continued on towards Washington, stopping only to eat and take a quick walk out to view Snoqualmie Falls. The fires caused us to come up with a contingency plan for our next day, as well, so we decided to follow the sunset out to the Washington coast, where we camped on the beach, filled with excitement for what we would find when we woke the next morning.
To be continued...
*Note* Since I was traveling with two incredible photographers, I decided to let them do the camera work, and I stuck to taking pictures with my phone, only. I'll be sure to post some of their beautiful work at the end of my road trip recap.