How about a Picture?

This is a picture of the Grande Ronde River taken from Rattlesnake Grade on the Washington side. The highway starts on top on the Oregon side of the river and winds down to river level, crosses the river and the state line and then winds back up the Washington side. A couple of miles downriver from this point the river runs into the Snake River at the northern end of Hell's Canyon.

The other picture is from the Snake River itself at the bottom of Hell's Canyon. River level is only a few hundred feet above sea level, while the mountains on either side of the river rise to over 8000 feet.