A cool but gorgeously clear morning found our group from the Sea Bird heading south along the Snake River, into Hells Canyon. Trees decorated in fall colors surrounded the river, with long shadows being cast everywhere. Slowly we began to feel the walls lifting along the river's edge. The Snake River has carved its way through layers of Columbia River basalt. Those same basalt formations, in turn, are backed up against marine sediments that once came from the Western Pacific! All this created by the shifting of the Earth's plates. A geologist's paradise, but also a visual feast for the casual traveler. The early morning light left wonderful shadows on the columnar basalt and dried grass of early fall. There, nestled amongst these unusual rock formations were several Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. The soft light brown colors of rock and animal, the harsh edges of basalt against soft fur….a world of steep cliffs providing a safe place for the sheep to rest and observe their observers. A wonderful way to begin our day exploring the long fall shadows cast upon a deep basalt canyon carved by a river in the past, where animals still continue to make their home in the present.