Reminiscing...

This is a Google Earth picture of Kleinschmidt Grade. That thin pencil of dirt road is the grade.   I have never ridden a car over the road and do not wish to do so.  I do remember riding in the car with Dad driving and him pointing out that going up that road was the only way to Paulette Ranch other than by helicopter or a long drive by way of Halfway, Oregon.

You can Google a couple of fairly good You Tube videos of a motorcycle going part way down and another of a very tense family driving down. Gulp.

It was much stepper when I first saw it because the dam had not been built yet and the road went down into the canyon quite a ways.  That is the Snake River you see down there but think lower level, much much lower level.

Today at work I watched a pretty good sized crane rumble into position about the build site and position some good sized pipe.
I was remembering living in Hells' Canyon, especially at Daggett's Trailer Court (Court, Hah!)  Dad had been told that T.K. Jensen was going to move a very big crane from point A to point B and we were all going to go watch the thing creep along.  So we all loaded up and dutifully watched the crane.  Dad always had much admiration for crane operators.   By the time we turned around and went home, a little rain storm had blown along some wind and rain  and all of Mom's freshly hung laundry had collapsed into the very large mud puddle.  I do dimly remember her throwing a fit and falling in it. 

I remember asking Dad if we could possible get a Yuk truck inner tube tire.  He always said something that didn't sound exactly like a promise but we knew it was a long shot.  I think that may have lead to all the men and boys to damn up the creek for a swimming hole. 
You had to know exactly where to dive into the water so you wouldn't knock yourself out on the underwater rocks. 

Hells Canyon was where I learned how to make hand made bound button holes for my doll dresses.  A lady in the "court" taught me how to do them.  I think somewhere about this time Mom got her recipe for raisen spice cake with powdered sugar frosting.  I get a taste for that every once in a while. 

Any other memories surfacing out there?