A stroll in the High Desert

Connie really likes going out in the Desert to the little hidden spots, even if there aren't any real spots, just Sage, and the hard to see denizens of this area. I had been wanting to revisit the waterfall that I got Leezard from a few years ago. ( A Prairie Falcon ) The trip there can be termed as "tough sledding" (Alaska slang for Summer), but the weather and temps were about as good as they were ever going to get.

After arriving at the turn off on Hwy 78 we parked the truck and unloaded the quad. Our timing was good as the runoff from winter had solidified and we were back to dust rather than mud.

I had made a little pack out of one of the most uncomfortable cloth back packs that I own, and it consisted of three bottles of water, camera, pistol, sunblock and a pepsi. It felt like a bag of bricks on my back before we were through.

The dirt track is somewhere around 24 miles to our parking spot, and it varies from Playa to soft ball sized rocks. As we were bumping along I heard Connie exclaim as a rock bounced up into the running board of the quad. It had made her jump as it had startled her.

The feral Horses had gone back into the Sheepsheads range where there is more water and to catch the greening grass. All along the trail were the rock Cairns that the Basque had erected on the tops of the lava lumps during the times that they ran Sheep in this country. I have heard that they did so out of loneliness, wanting to think that they were not so alone, but I think it more likely to be able to get their bearings and out of boredom. Besides people stack rocks almost every where you go. Seems natural, if not currently irritating to some.

The road was littered with the remains of the Stud horse territorial markers. ( Piles of horse crap, generally right in the middle of the "road".) We only saw two Antelope, and a dead Cow, ( also in the middle of the road) The interesting part is that the Cow only had Ravens for dinner partners, and only the  stomach had been fed on, even though the carcass was quite old. No Coyotes in the area apparently, making the area a good spot for a Mother Antelope to raise their young. There are quite a few that live there.

Connie was quite enthralled with the various Lava tubes, some intact others collapsed leaving a trough in the desert. The further we traveled the more numerous were the Cairns, some of which were quite elaborate.

Eventually we arrived at some territory that was too rough for the quad, and we had to hoof it to our destination. I wasn't real sure how far it was across the desert, but some of it has enough rocks and other ankle turners that it is difficult to make your way across it. As we crested a small rise a covey of 5 Sage Grouse lifted out of the Sage and flew about 50 yards and then set down again. I was very pleased to see them. I had never seen any there before.

While the land all looks the same there is a subtle difference as we progressed to the "waterfall". Quotes because while it used to have a lot more water and perhaps ran all year if the stones are any indication, but there was only the green stagnant pool at the bottom now.

The closer we got to the ravine the more flowers we saw. ( the flowers are just beginning to come out now) and we started finding the little small Barrel Cactus, that I have only seen on that bench. They are about the size of a Base Ball, and whatever they are called this is the very Western part of their range.

When we eventually arrived I was pleased to see that the Prairie Falcon was there and sitting on about three eggs. Guessing because they were under a ledge almost out of sight. We had our look, and moved back so that the female could return to her eggs.

There is a pool at the bottom of the fall, and over the years it has dug out a spot deep enough to hold water at least through some of the summer. I have no idea as to how long or even if it ever dries up. There were lots of frogs and it must have been pretty noisy in the evening.

The little Cactus were actually quite plentiful in the area and it is of course littered with obsidian chippings, as it was a perfect ambush spot for the indigenous people that lived in the area. We found a few broken and discarded arrow heads in our travels and around the overlook.

The evening was quite warm, and Connie was overheated, as she, for whatever reason, is unable to sweat. So our return was a lot slower than our arrival. We did see a small rodent that I had never seen before, ( views of it were only fleeting at best) but I thought it might have been some sort of Gopher. Connie said that its tail, only about two inches long was flat and furred, I didn't get that good of a look. It wasn't very fast and not more than 6 inches long. Connie felt that it was a baby of some sort. I still think that it was some sort of a Gopher that had no idea that he wasn't alone in the universe.

The desert is deceiving in that while it looks flat, it isn't. I had taken my bearings on the distant hills and we hit the spot that I had left the quad dead on. I was very glad of that as the trip had been a bit more than was comfortable for Connie. My feet felt as though the bottoms of them had bee sanded, so I am sure that Connie was hurting as well.

I had taken my phone on this trip to record how much we had walked, and as I checked it, Connie discovered that she no longer had her phone. She had thought that it was in the quad, but that soon proved untrue. After a lot of consideration she decided that she had dropped it on the ride in. Only 24 miles of road to check, no biggie? At least we were back to the quad and we had a ride out of there, I told her that if it was on the road, I would find it. Sure, no problem!

On the way back I checked the cow to see if there was a number on the ear tag. Nope, just a yellow tag. We moved right along to get the stink out of our nostrils, with Connie "back seat" driving- "slow down, your going too fast"! Eventually I got off and made her drive, and then I couldn't see as well as I wanted. I was pretty sure of the general area that she had lost it, and that was where the rock had startled her. Only problem was remembering where that was in the 24 miles of dirt track.

Eventually I got tired of being a back seat driver as well and I made her stop so I could drive. I was pretty sure that it had fallen in the road and being black and most likely shiney, it should show up pretty well. Eventually a bit more than halfway across to my truck I could see it lying there in the road, and then all was well with the  world again. Then it was only dust and bumpy road.

I have been trying to lose my winter blubber, so I am on a pretty restrictive diet. I have found that more than 750 calories and I maintain weight, so I only eat one meal a day and had started the day weighing 216. When we got back I checked my phone for my steps and found that it showed that we had walked 5.3 miles and I had burned 700 calories. I got on the scales and found that I now weighed 212.5 lbs. I did it more than once so it wasn't an error. I have since gone back up to 213.5. Connie gained a pound! I guess I gave her too much of the water.

While doing my chores this morning, I took a Mouse that I had found in one of my traps, out to Hope for a appetiser, and found that she had been busy overnight. Crap! There was a time when I would have been happy to have a female that was willing to nest. Now I only want her to finish her molt so that we can hunt again, and here she is doing what nature intended her to do. Sigh!

Her first ever egg.

Frontier Homestead

One of the things that I enjoy so much in traveling in the S.E. part of Oregon is the obvious fact that things have been very different in the past. Of course there is the rugged beauty that is here today, but it is also apparent that it was not always what we see now. In this area the volcanic activity in the very early times formed the land to what we see today, but it is obvious that not too awfully long ago the climate was very different as well.  Perhaps that is the reason that I have a problem with the portion of the US that thinks that we are the main cause of "global warming, or climate change", which ever you want to call it. Sure we have a part in it, but me thinks that in the grand scheme of things we are pretty insignificant. So far!

Connie again came to relieve me of my solitude, and as a reward I took her to one of the old Homesteads here that is off the beaten path. The weather was quite nice yesterday, not much wind and the temp. was in the mid 70's, so we took a couple of drinks, closed the dogs and cats in the house and hopped on the quad for a ride out to Rattle Snake Creek. I tend to believe it was named that due to the winding course of the "creek", since we didn't see a single snake, and I never have. The flowers are just beginning to show, so there weren't that many of them either.

Again I am amazed at the persistence and hardy nature of the people that lived here, to find the little spots that had the basics to sustain life. With my little plane I can wander around till I blunder into these little spots of water in an otherwise empty landscape. How long did it take for this guy to find his little utopia, and make a home there? Only this one no longer had any water. It used to, but its dried up now, and I wonder at the type of woman that would have the strength to make a life there. Connie looks at the view and thinks it is beautiful, but how many women today would ever have that thought if that was where she was destined to live her life. Thankfully there are some, still. Its obvious that the weather was different then without the influence of our human intervention, other wise there is no way that anyone could have survived long enough to build a stone house there.

The house is located in a small declivity or if you tend towards grandeur in your speech, Canyon, that is not visible until you are right on top of it. The area is other wise flat and unremarkable from all the rest of the Sage covered land. The beginning and the access that I used to get there is a cut, merely 50 feet into the ground where a now dry creek bed once flowed through, with apparent vigor. The drainage is from the Hills to the S.E. towards what is now Nevada. While they sometimes achieve 4500 to 5500 feet of altitude they are not all that spectacular, merely "High Desert".

This rock and many around it are pretty good size and all are scored by what must

have been a lot of water over a long period of time. This stuff is very hard basalt, and not your

usual rhyolite that the wind and water can shape.

The area  now serves as drainage on rare occasions, that blends with Crooked Creek, that I now live on. Crooked Creek is an artesian flow that goes underground a short way below my house and eventually surfaces about 6 miles from the house, flowing on to the Owyhee River and thus to the sea via the Snake, and the Columbia.

The gables of the house are beginning to tilt a bit, but it is still in surprising condition

considering that only mud was used to hold the rocks in place.

There was obviously some modern comforts available at that time as there are "milled" 2X8's inset into the rocks to supply lintels for the windows and coat and hat racks on the walls. As well as nails to hang them from. The well consists of a pipe driven into the ground from which a pump was "obviously" screwed into for water. The house is built with mud and lava rock. The walls are straight and the corners are square. There was obviously a dirt floor and a old early metal box spring that could have been added at a later date of course. The roof was obviously wood, but there is no evidence of any of it now, although those in the walls are in good condition. There is also what I took to be a grave marked by an outline of lava Rocks. It is a small one, that probably contains the bones of a child. I will do some checking with a local "historian" and see what I can learn about this spot.

There are Ravens nests at the top of each gable. Perhaps one is a "summer home"

steel bed springs

Fire place, now a Pack Rat retirement home.

Tucked down under the wind, and out of sight.

Time for an update on Jessie

I am not sure what happened to the blog. I noticed that most of the pictures either did not send or show for a while. There was some type of a glitch in the Blog program. It appears to have been corrected, at least on my computer. Most of the pictures were blotted out for a while.

Jessie,  after I released her,  spent about 6 days somewhere else, then came back to her mews. She spent 6 days there, never leaving and I thought that she had settled in, and things would be OK.

Then I was wakened in the middle of the night by a Horned Owl hooting. As most of you know the walls to my house are of native stone and about 18 inches thick, so it had to be close. I got up and went out to see what was going on, but could find nothing. I did not see or hear the Owl again. Jessie normally slept on an inside perch, so it was not strange that she was not visible. Horned Owls are a serious threat to Hawks and Falcons, and most consider it to be their duty to eliminate all of the day shift if and when they can. The day shift knows this and are very afraid of Horned Owls.

When I arose the next morning, Jessie was gone. I kept watch for the next 8 days looking for her to return. She did not. Last Friday I received a call from the Ontario, (Oregon) Fish and Wildlife, that a lady in Rome had found her body. She had been staying at their ranch just outside of Rome.

As you might imagine I have been doing a lot of thinking about the whole thing and doing a lot of self flagellation as well. My conclusions ( guesses) follows.

I think that I mentioned that the last time I flew her for exercise, she exhibited some bizarre behavior, that I attributed to something like dementia in humans, as well as an inability to regain muscle strength. She seemed to be unable to climb to any height over about 150 feet and showed a lot of frustration about it. That was three years ago. Her level flight and that close to the ground did not seem any different from normal.

I am guessing that the Owl scared her badly enough that she fled the next morning as soon as it got light enough to do so. She flew about 10 air miles from the house to the ranch that I mentioned. Perhaps she did not know how to get back home because of her suspected? likely? dementia, or that she no longer felt safe there. Who knows.

It has taken this long for me to come to grips with her loss,  and my feelings of guilt. This is not Disney land and as my mother used to quote " If wishes where horses, we would all never have to walk again".

I know a lot of you felt as though releasing her was a noble idea, but to me it feels like a betrayal of trust.

Weather

This has been a very interesting spring for us, as I am sure it has for you as well. I was exchanging emails with a "fellow" flyer, Artie, and she mentioned that she was going flying. I told her that I would also like to do the same, but the weather was a bit too "western" to do so. She didn't understand the phrase and asked me to elaborate. I sent her a picture and then it became clear to her.

I have never seen so many "lenticular" clouds in my life, as I have this spring. It seems to be blowing storms by us almost every day. If they would dump some of their load on the way things might be just a little better, but they seem to hang on until they get to Idaho to drop their collection of moisture. We have had winds in the 30's for almost a week.

Jessie went back into her mews yesterday and seems content to stay out of the wind. I don't think she has left her mews at all since last evening.

Crooked Creek carvings

The weather is improving and during Connie's last trip here we were able to get a few things done  at the house and take some day trips as well, but first a Jessie up date!

After her "fly about" where-in she was gone for 6 days. She seems to have settled in a bit more. She did go back into her mews for a couple of nights and I went out to feed her just as I always had, through the wire at her window ledge.

Two days ago she was gone before I got up and I didn't see her all day long. Then in the evening she was sitting on top of Hope's weathering area roof. I got a glove and offered her some food. She played coy and flew around a bit before settling back on the roof, and came down to eat off the fist. She then came back in the evening and settled on the window ledge to the shop at the corner of Hope's weathering area. I think she wanted to go into the shop, but didn't want to walk to get there.

When I woke this morning she was still sitting on the window ledge. I went out and put her food on the rock jack at the end of the yard and she ate there.

I am going to put a board for feeding her on the Rock Jack today.

Connie likes to go for drives in the desert, and its one of my favorite activities as well. I had taken her for most of the major trips prior to her heart condition, but there were a few little "short" places of interest that we had not visited. 

In the late 1800's a Cavalry troop had camped where Crooked Creek now crosses Hwy 95 for a couple of weeks during the "Indian troubles" in this area. I had heard that one of the troopers carved his initials into the Rhyolite cliff face. I had been there once quite a while ago and didn't think that it was all that far away from the road.

As with most of the rock formations around here these are of Rhyolite

As you can see in these cross sections there were long periods of change

in the deposits laid down.

This dark deposit is small river worn rocks and pebbles.

Most seem to be Obsidian in nature. 

The water has shaped the Rhyolite to look like little

diarama's set on shelves in the rock faces.

There are little "wonders" to capture your eye and imagination every where you look.

Of course the Pack Rats take advantage of the cracks and crevices.

Perhaps there were other carvings, but if so they have fallen from the cliffs.

Nov 23 1864

Perhaps there were other "Taggers", but I didn't find them.

For what ever reason the Eagles have not nested here this year.

While we were trying to find out if any Eagles were home this Prairie

popped out of a hole about 50 yards from the Eagle nest.

The Prairie is using the hole with the "chalk" marks.

I was a bit surprised that she was here. I had not seen one 

hanging about the area before.

The trip turned out to be a bit tougher than I had thought, but Connie held up well. Both of our feet suffered due to the side hill walking and the small "rolling" pebbles underfoot.

We were both surprised at the lack of bugs, and wildlife. I think we only saw two beetles, One had been captured and eaten by a Say's Phoebe. We only saw some Ducks, Ravens, Northern Harrier and the Prairie Falcons.