Owyhee Mountain Day Trip...

Nancy and I headed out last Tuesday to travel the Owyhee Upland Backcountry road.  I had heard dad talk about the roads in the Owyhees so we were prepared.  However, we discovered that the road for this trip was more like a freeway - minus the traffic.  Obviously, dad spent more time on the side roads as this was very well maintained for us sissies.  While you could safely travel 30 mph on this road, we discovered we were traveling an average of 10 mph because we stopped so many times.

It was incredibly beautiful in a way that's hard to describe.  I've always loved the mountains and this was totally different.  Gnarly old Juniper trees, deep canyons with crystal clear streams, and stands of aspen in unexpected places.

So here, in pictures, is our trip in order as we left Jordan Valley until we got to Grandview...

 

Someone took a lot of time to hike through the rattlesnake infested desert, up these cliffs to build this rock formation.  Or, was it aliens...

 

 

I was fascinated by the beautiful moss growing on all the trees...

This was the coolest fence, I think we need to build one!

 

In several places they had been thinning the Juniper as they evidently tend to take over.  However, we got to a spot where these HUGE junipers in a swatch about 1/4 mile wide had evidently blown over.  Not a one standing.  There must have been one hell of a windstorm through there.  Or, was it aliens...

We did take one side road trying to find Little Jacks Creek.  That's where I understood dad saying that the roads were horrible.  We bounced out of our seats but came across this badger running down the road in front of us.  He was too stupid to run into the brush and he stayed on the road for quite a long time.

The closest thing we could find to Mt. Rushmore...

 Our last stop, an old cemetery.

 

I had never understood why dad loved the desert so much until this trip.  It was spectacular and I highly recommend it if you want to get out and see some of the beauty of Idaho.