Day trip!

John and I flew this morning to Three forks, primarily to simply take advantage of some decent weather. It started out as dense fog, at 64 degrees. It finally burned off here at the house, so we fueled up and took off to do some more checks on my shortened and improved radio antenna in my plane. I had made it too long, and my range was shortened. I was still able to reach the house at 24 miles, but it was substantially worse than John's radio. We cut it to 23 .5 inches and it appeared to be better, but Karen's test was for me to fly to Rome, where she knew how it sounded, so that she could compare. Since Rome is at a lower altitude, radio transmissions are somewhat blocked by the terrain. The improvement to my radio was much better.

It was a bit bumpy, but tolerable. We dropped in to the bowl that is Rome and the fog layer had only risen to about 200 feet above the ground. We flew through the area, by staying below the fog. We decided that it was probably only local, so we headed out to the SE to check Three Forks. I had to climb up above the fog by flying through a fog bank that was more cloud than fog. I could barely see the ground for quite a while. It finally cleared as we left the bowl that Rome sits in. We bumped our way to Three Forks and my radio was still strong at 35 miles. We turned back and landed at the house. I flew 91 miles total burning 5 gallons of fuel.

After lunch and a nap, John and I loaded up to check out some reported "Calvary graffiti" that was reportedly cut into the rim rock on Crooked Creek a bit further towards the Owyhee. A friend told us of its general location, but she hadn't been there in the last 20 years, and it was fading even then. Apparently a troop on patrol camped there and some of the men carved their names and date on the Rhyolite cliff face.

The Rim Rocks are always very interesting to walk. This year the rain fall has really kicked the grass and weeds into overdrive. I took my Camera along just in case, and I am glad that I did. We didn't find any signatures, but it didn't matter, we found lots of new things to see and enjoy.

Crooked Creek flows along this face and under the road to continue its journey to the Owyhee through the canyon in the distance.

This is the view to the South East. The old wagon road is in that direction.

The Lark Spur is blooming and makes a pretty relief to the harsh aspects of the landscape.

Flowers are in rare and plentiful profusion all over the landscape. Some are fading, while others have  yet to mature.

While it is not unusual for the Rhyolite to have deposits and rocks buried in them, this does not appear to be the normal type of deposit.

There was a line of them in this rock lying out all by itself.

An old barb wire fence keeps the range cattle out of the hay fields. The range here is "Open Range" meaning that you are required to fence your property to keep livestock out, rather than in. A difficult concept for most city dwellers to comprehend.

Some of the formations are interesting indeed.

John is inspecting a Swallows nest under an overhang.

A colony has taken advantage of a large overhang to keep their houses intact.

There were Brush Bunnies here as the terrain favored their survival. The Jacks prefer more open country.

As I was climbing out I walked into a hidden little depression that these Antelope were using to stay out of sight.

Although John and I didn't find the names written in the 1800's, we still felt as though it was a good outing, and enjoyed the exercise very much. A walk taken with all these views and distractions is much more enjoyable than merely exercise.