Trip reports are getting fewer and longer in between with nothing new to say, images of the same places getting old as well. Ah but here's a few...hundred, images of the Big Quiet, my favorite place on Earth to get away and camp. It was Spring of 2024.
I had tried several times to get out to the desert and count Sage Grouse for Oregon Wildlife but something about a lot of rain making for a lot of mud fowled things up. After trying to count sage grouse leks, I had a hunting dog that needed to get out camping, so these images are from 3 different short trips, 2 solo and one with my wife.
Little bit of mud coming on...
There were at least two hundred mud holes in the first hundred miles. I hate mud...
Tough decisions
How to spook your dog blowing into a beer bottle
Another mud hole...oh wait, that's Orley, looking like a mud hole.
A spot of brown in a sea of sage. The BLM says the sage grouse are losing habitat and so literally cutting complete forests of juniper for the bird. There are millions of acres of sage, what is being lost is due to cattle.
One of us even drank water from a mud puddle. This was on a hike to some neat hot springs I knew about from other trips.
Waterfalls on the left show where the hot springs are.
The Owyhee River has hot springs on both sides, right straight across here too, I've now been to both.
Oh boy the hot tub had clean water
After the hot bath we made the hike back up the hill...
Hiking up the hill I noticed all these tiny little things jumping around, covering the ground actually, the first hatch of Mormon Crickets had arrived. Not actual crickets but members of the hard shelled katydid family, they number in the bazillions and are a serious pest to farmers. These were the smallest I'd ever seen, they will grow to about 3 inches long. I've seen some as large as small birds...as I ran over them with my truck. Well look, they completely covered the road. It looked like a sci-fi movie and sounded like a Rice Krispies commercial...snape, crackle and pop. 
That night, like most in the Big Quiet, the view was endless...and shhh, quiet.
Dead dog woking
Funny guy, Orley won't drink unless his ball is like right there. Might it walk away?
Another day another road less graveled
See, I told you it's cold at night.
Look close to see the truck and camper, blending in a bit.
A walk-about was taken...
and half of an obsidian arrowhead was given up by the land. One of those rare instances of looking down at exactly the right time and place.
Climbing that scree of ruddy red shale showed me fossils of plant life that once lived in an ancient lake. Very cool!
This to me is heaven, no sounds and no people.
And it's hard to believe looking at this picture, there was running water right in front of the truck. Again, look close to see the truck and camper, TC as we call it. And no Mom, there is no signal of any kind, that's why I carry a SAT phone for emergencies.
Hey, no mud on the steps Amigo
Sorry Dad, what's a step?
And yes, it was colder than a witches grits that night, Ore was still completely under the covers come morning. Funny thing, when camping solo he now jumps up on the camper bed and sleeps next to me, one dog night.
I tapped it on the head a few times to get it to hiss, part of Ore's snake training. It's necessary that he be leary of them in case it's a rattlesnake in the brush. I think Orley gets the message.
The nice thing about having a dog with me is that I stop more often to let him out, and to take in the scenery. Orley is a magnificent animal and like me, gets depressed when we get home.
Cresting a hill I could see the Alvord Desert of SE Oregon.
I was heading to more hot springs shown in other trip reports, too hot to handle.
101° is my max!
The sound of very hot air hissing from some steam vents kind of spooked Ore
Almost hot enough to boil hot dogs, but how would I get them out?
Mother Nature’s version of an air fryer, it would absolutely work!
Not snow but alkalai deposits from the hot water in the past.
We moved up the valley for a place to camp, the only sounds were those made by our presence and the spring birds that were joyfully out and about.
We left that area in the morning, without a plan.
Dirt roads in this desert had been pretty smooth, I'd miss them.
I only got tired once on this trip. Tired once...ok you got it.
Like a song from the Talking Heads, I was on a Road To Nowhere.
Sometimes I stop for the night in the most boring places. Ah but I have faith in nature and my good luck. Plus it was spring and I know it's the best time of year for atmospherics.
God lights are always a welcome sight
I was waiting hopefully for some afterglow, it's an iffy thing.
I was so excited when the red skies came on that I forgot my camera and only used my iPhone. I was disappointed with the results.
Come morning I tried to get to a canyon I wanted to hike, melting snow in the form of a river stopped me. I've crossed this one before in the dead of winter when it had a solid two inches of ice over the top. Not today Amigo. We turned around and went somewhere else.
Ok so back to the highway and through a small farming community. Those are bulls, so no running through the field.
My next stop was a gift from the heavens. I try a lot of side roads just to explore, and this is what showed up this particular time.
Orley made friends right away. At least it didn't hiss in his face.
No friends here, this ant mound was huge and boiling over with ants.
A picture before hitting the road in the morning, going through a couple hundred mud holes has me thinking I'll have some serious cleaning to do.
We're driving we're driving, right through the middle of a roundup. 
Ok so look, a even a guy has to stop now and then to smell the flowers. These were gorgeous.
Moving on it was evident that winter had left not long ago. And this was a desert. This global warming thing has me bumfuzzled for sure.
Hey a bathroom break would be good about now, don't you think...
With the use of Avenza Maps I found a neat looking spot on the map, off we went. Ore napping on the way.
I drove some horrendous roads, two tracks actually, used only a few times a year by ranchers checking their cattle. This whole region is nothing but rock, and those rocks slow you down to crawling speeds, inventing new four letter words with every bounce. *%#@!
Beauties do show themselves though, in between the rough patches.
Surprisingly, it didn't run.
I had seen a tiny label on the map for a dam in the middle of the desert, what the?
Ever try to take a selfie when your partner doesn't cooperate?
Keerap, is this chingadera working?
Oh yeah, finally geez.
Ore made friends again right away in the water below the dam. It was incredible to see this water strider, out of maybe a dozen, literally walk up to Ore's nose to check him out, as if it knew he wasn't a threat. Every time Ore would put his nose back down this strider would come over, it happened several times. Nature will always amaze me.
Home for the night, not too shabby for a desert dressed in spring green. It'll be dirt brown in a couple of months, and hot.
Ore also introduced himself to the colony of ground squirrels living around us.
"Hey ya'll!"
Dam watching, in the middle of the picture, it's my new favorite sport. All you need is a dam chair and a dam beer. Look, my dam beer is in my dam chair, use your dam eyes, he said with a dam grin.
We took a walk down to some old stone structures and Orley had a blast, never stopped running and chasing birds. I officially named this place Orleyville.
Orleyville it is, I put it on the map.
Orley was in dogtopia, running wide open.
A little duct tape and bubble gum it'll be like new.
Ore and I were having so much fun that I wanted to share, so in the morning we packed up and drove back to Boise, Idaho and picked up my wife Lynn. Lucky for me in 1980 to marry a gal that loves all the things I do and has spent our life together camping, hiking, fishing and hunting.
The next bunch of pics are me bringing her back to this exact spot. It was extra special...
Ore surveys the algae covered cistern and dry water trough.
This creek has an actual name, telling me it runs year round. Next time I'm taking my fly rod.
Chasing Killdeer in Orleyville
PLF's had popped in the few days in between trips. PLF's= pretty little flowers.
"Do we have an umbrella Dad?"
While barbecuing on the grill, the wind and rain did come up, making for a fun an exciting dinner. After the brief rain passed we were given a gift from Nature herself.
On a walk we discovered a hidden lake. I sure need to carry my fishing pole full time!
I also caught a small racer. It was cold out so it was moving slow, just a bit slower than my hand. In warmer temps I can't get close to these snakes because of their speed.
We drove back to Boise on a Backcountry Byway, supposed crown jewell of a road through spectacular scenery. Oh contraire. As I mentioned already, the BLM has declared war on the juniper tree and doing all they can to eradicate it in many areas, incl Juniper Mountain itself. The BLM started off saying the trees impact sage grouse territory, now they say it's for water conservation. My belief is it's for cattle grazing because yes, grass doesn't grow under the shade of trees. It boggles my mind to see what they've done, and the eyesore they leave behind will be there a hundred years. Because of the dry climate, wood and cow pies will still be laying there after you and I are long gone.
That was it for Lynnie. I took her home, fixed some things on the truck and headed out again with Ore.
Same-o pics of a previous spot, I'll not post pics of it again yet it's one of my top spots.
Ore and I were surrounded by Chukar, my favorite bird to hunt because they are so smart and live in vertical country. Meaning straight up and down rocks that you, the hunter, have to climb repeatedly all day just to get a few for dinner. You typically get a shot at the bottom, then they run up the hills. You climb the steep hills for another shot, then they fly down to the bottom. Rinse and repeat hah. It's a great way to burn calories even if you don't get a bird. But, they don't taste like chicken and are the tastiest of all game birds. Orley is a bird dog and this being spring season I can't let him hunt them. They're paired up for spring and laying eggs. There is always a lookout, chattering away to the covey if the coast is clear. Look close at the top of the rocks I had to zoom into for pics.
There is water to be found in the Big Quiet, if you look long enough.
"Hey Dad, trout!" Technically he’s a Pudelpointer, bird dog, but he’s a fish pointer too you see.
Come on Ore, find me something big enough to eat for dinner.
"Ok Dad, I'm looking."
Ahoy, another snake, the garter snake variety.
Chukar in the bush, what are they worth?
I don't know what to make of it, other animals and Orley. They seem attracted to him for some reason. I mean why would a water snake swim over to us? Normally other creatures are afraid of dogs.
And later again...
My handsome boy
Killdeer were everywhere too, but my favorite red-winged blackbird was not to be found this time.
This guy was checking me out. I thought it was time to fly. (Bad Dave, very bad.)
Orley the Beast, a handsome animal. Such a softie and lover, until it's outdoor time, then game on.
Finally a good zoom shot shows the Chukar's colors, black headband and devilish smile. We call them Devil Birds for a reason, they laugh at us trying to hunt them.
Well me and Ore are taking a break, we're worn out from the trips. Thanks for reading!
