Sunday drive

Its been a while since Karen and I have gone for a Sunday Drive. I had a choice, in that there was a possible Prairie Falcon that I wanted to check to see if they were still living there.  I could either do it fast in the plane or see if Karen wanted to go along. I was a bit surprised and pleased that she did want to go, so we all loaded up in the truck. Two Dogs and us.

This area had been burned in the "Long Draw and Holloway Fire" Three years ago.

 The fire had burned up to the road and been stopped by a really wide fire line. The ground on the other side of the road does not have any growth other than Cheat Grass. All the Sage is gone for about 90 square miles. That did not stop the growth of Tumble Weeds ( Russian Thistle) Last years Tumble Weeds are gone now from the burned area. Some of them are clogged into each of the little crevices and creases of the burned area, but the rest have blown into the Sage on the down wind side of the fire. You can see them choking the Sage here for about 100 yards into the Sage. The stuff burns like gas has been poured on it, so if there is another spark that gets into this stuff, it will be hot enough to make a really good fire, and burn the rest of the Sage that didn't go up the first time.

The terrain had changed since Karen was last in this area. She had not seen any of the results of the big fire except along the Hwy going to McDermitt.

We had to drive about 20 or more miles to get to the top of Rattle Snake Canyon. There is little life but Birds in much of this area. We did see a Coyote in the far distance, but he was hauling it out of the area. He must have been more than 800 yards off, but he wasn't taking any chances. Apparently he had been missed before.

 This area is called the Potomac Ranch. I think it was a "line shack" type of dwelling, but it shows the presence of kids, and there was an awful lot of stuff that had been in the house. It was built out of native stone, and mud of which there was plenty.

This is obviously some kids fort, built by taking advantage of a natural little cave. There is a trickle of water coming out of the rocks inside of it.

The nest area was down stream from the crossing. The dogs are only too happy to get out and check all the smells.

A Red tail Male flies up on the cliff to check us out.

 A Kestrel dive bombs him all the way across the Canyon, and takes a perch close by, so that she can show him her displeasure at his presence should he fly again. There are a pair of them, and they are getting ready to nest as well.

We saw 8 Antelope on our trip, and most wanted to race. For whatever reason an Antelope on the left side of the road will, given half a chance be determined to run in front of you to get to the other side of the road. Almost every time! Once they start in parallel with you, it is going to happen. I have seen them from as much as 1/4 to 1/2 mile away run like hell to get across the road in front of you. It defies logic. If you slow down they will as well. You stop, they stop. Mash on the gas and they run all out, but come hell or high water, they are going to beat you to some imaginary point across the road.

 This guy was no exception. He was just standing on the up hill side of the road. He is a good one, quite a bit better than what you see during hunting season. I took his picture, and then he started moving. Faster and faster until he could cross the road to run up the hill on the other side. I once tried to out run one on my quad. I can go a bit faster on these two tracks than in the truck. But top speed is only 50 MPH and they still beat me across the road. Once there, they stop to watch you go by. I wonder if they would die of shame if you did manage to beat them.

This is what the burned area looks like. It will be 40 or 50 years before it manages to grow any of the normal Sage back, if then.

Oh, I almost forgot, there was nothing there except some Ravens.