What a perfect day to go speeding into Hells Canyon on expertly driven jet boats. The cool morning turned into a balmy afternoon and the red sumac foliage splashed the canyon walls with fire engine red and the dog bane (or Indian hemp) offered a countering lemon-yellow accent of fall color. But the colors that had everyone leaving their dinners was from last night, when the aurora borealis danced across the evening skies as we navigated east on the Snake River. The colors of fall, always brilliant and sadly, ephemeral.