Last year, we didn't get to Owyhee at all. This was entirely due to the fact that the Tacoma didn't come home to the Pacific Northwest - from Las Vegas - until early July. By that time, we'd missed prime Owyhee time - a short period of weeks right around Memorial Day - when the grass in the high desert is green, the rains (and resulting mud) are largely done for the year, and the temperatures haven't yet climbed into the unbearably hot range.
Missing the undulating grass, we're trying our best to make up for the lack of Owyhee time last year with a bit more this year. After our first trip into the Nevada Owyhee's just a few days earlier, we're headed back to the Idaho side to spend a bit of time working our way down to the river. We'll revisit a couple places we've been - and enjoyed - as well as a few new spots where we'll revel in the history of the homesteads that once dotted the landscape.
And, hopefully, we'll finally get to meet Kenny, a man I can only describe as "a generous guy who has graciously shared more than I could have ever hoped to learn about Owyhee." For years, he and I have been hoping that our trips to this favorite region of ours will overlap. We've had a few near misses. This time, though, I think we've finally got it!
Conquering Cave Draw | Owyhee #1 - Last year, we didn't get to Owyhee at all. This was entirely due to the fact that the Tacoma didn't come home to the Pacific Northwest - from Las Vegas - until early July. By that time, we'd missed prime Owyhee time - a short period of weeks right around Memorial Day - when the grass in the high desert is green, the rains (and resulting mud) are largely done for the year, and the temperatures haven't yet climbed into the unbearably hot range. Missing the undulating grass, we are trying our best to make up for the lack of…
Slowing Down | Owyhee #2 - Working our way south from Cave Draw involved a series of long, slow, dusty, bumpy, and all-around miserable roads between the lip of Bruneau Canyon and Rowland Rd. These are roads we've traveled before - usually to access the sketchy descent to Indian Hot Springs - making the misery even more miserable given that we knew how long it would last. To break up the bouncing, we stopped to admire the afternoon clouds gathering overhead. Usually in the Owyhee, graded gravel county roads are in reasonable condition - capable of supporting speeds upwards of 40mph - but it's the ranchers…
Rattlesnakes and Skinny Dips | Owyhee #3 - Having thoroughly enjoyed our downtime along the gurgling banks of the Bruneau River, found ourselves racing north along Rowland Road shortly before 11:00am. Our plan for the remainder of the day was to visit several homesteads that I'd marked - but that we hadn't been able to see due to time - on our first adventure to the Idaho-side of Owyhee. Oh, and there was a possible hike down to another of the canyonlands rivers, should we feel as though we hadn't had enough of the start-sweating-as-soon-as-the-Tacoma-door-is-opened temperatures outside. Our first of several visits to Sheep Creek throughout the morning.…