Sat, Oct 16, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 12:05AM Saturday, October 16, 2010
Originally we thought this might be another “travel” day that would take us to West Yellowstone and then we would be in Yellowstone on Sunday. But, the weather was just too good today so we decided it would be a get off the beaten path day instead. So, as the crow flies, we probably moved about 60 miles, but by the road we drove closer to 175 miles with well over 100 of that on a single lane dirt road.
From Ontario, OR we drove about 50 miles south to Jordan Valley, OR a small town in the high desert of southeastern Oregon. This is a remote and beautiful area and is the starting point of the Owyhee (pronounced like Hawaii) Uplands Back Country Byway. In the early 1800s three Hawaiian fur trappers were brought to the area to trap a creek that emptied into the Snake River. When they did not return an expedition went in search of them and found one of them murdered at their camp. The other two were never found. In their honor the stream was named Owyhee which was an early spelling for Hawaii.
Anyway back to the Back Country Byway… it’s about 100 miles long and is a single lane dirt road. They warn you several times that there are no services etc… then when you cross over from Oregon into Idaho they have a sign stating “If you travel beyond this point you will be responsible for costs of search and rescue”. Although that was a little intimidating, we have traveled this road a couple of times before and know that really applies to hunters who enter the area when they are in the midst of the winter snows which can be substantial. Other than a few cattle ranches, there is nothing on the entire road. This is the ultimate high desert country drive. From sagebrush covered hills to rocky canyons from dusty dry soil to beautiful creeks, rivers and springs. The road winds through mountain woodlands and high mountain valleys before giving way to the sagebrush covered hills as you approach the end of the drive at Grandview, Idaho.
We made numerous stops and then enjoyed a nice long picnic in the primitive campground and picnic area located in a deep rock sided canyon on the North Fork of the Owyhee River. Paris and Dodger are always on the lookout for critters, whether from the back seat windows or from our walks. After lunch we took a walk along the Owyhee River and I noticed Paris was sniffing around a pile of rocks. I called her back and she promptly returned with a small field mouse. She was so proud; it was her first trophy ever! Luckily for the small mouse he was traumatized but when I told her to “spit it out” she dropped it on the ground and after a little nudging from me he scurried off. She was pretty hard to live with the rest of the drive.
As we approached one of our favorite photo spots, an old set of log cattle working pens, we saw a horse trailer parked next to the corral with a saddled horse standing quietly in the trailer. We are very sensitive to bothering local ranchers so almost didn’t stop but decided to just make a quick stop and take a couple of photos. I had no sooner snapped my second shot than Charles said, “Here comes a truck”. Sure enough he pulled up and stepped out of the truck. He was a big guy and looked like he could play quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys but I heard he and Charles talking and he was very soft spoken. I climbed down from the corral fence and joined them. Luck was with us again as he was perfectly ok with us taking photos. Whew! He and his wife and mother-in-law were gathering cattle into the pasture where this corral was located. We talked a good while about the area and he said his wife’s family owned 3,000 acres and leased other acreage as well. He said that if we would go about a mile down the road we would see a small road to the left and they had another corral and a small cabin down there. I asked if he would mind if we rode down there to photograph the corral and he said sure. Of course we had to make that side trip and a few more before we finally exited the Byway at Grandview and made the short drive to Mountain Home, Idaho our resting spot for tonight.
Tomorrow we will continue our trek toward Yellowstone but for now we are just enjoying the memories we made today enjoying God’s handiwork. By the way, this road often closes by the end of September because of snow but today it was perfect and the temperature got into the lower seventies! Unbelievable!
We are very well tonight and hope you all are too!
Peace, Hope & Love,
Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger
Reader Comments (1)
It sounds as if Paris and Dodger are having just as good time as you and Charles...Just think, they are going to be some of the most well traveled dogs anywhere...we love reading your journal and the pics, as usual, are wonderful...love ya, sharon
PS...several people want your framed picture that you gave for the Halloween Carnival....I love it when each one plans to have the highest bid.... :)