Bob's Eyes

Thursday September 28, 2023 Indian Reservation Nevada

 

I woke up at the state line by the two cabins and the gas pumping station near by. Right away a rancher drove by and then two maintenance trucks drove into the gas pumping station. It seems like I came in from the back way yesterday as now there is a lot of traffic coming in from the direction I’m going today, towards the Reservation.

Headed out

I got it going and was on the road that was mostly pretty straight for long distances and in pretty good shape too.

 

I had about thirty miles to go today to get back to the reservation store for gas.

I stopped here at the Juniper Reservoir for a break and to check the map.

 

These wild horses were a couple hundred yards off the road and didn’t seem too concerned about me going by. That one horse sure has it’s ears back.

 

A couple more wild horses I drove on by. They were sorta sneaking by me and more couscous than the last ones. I’m now on the Indian Reservation.

 

Round up

They were having some kind of big roundup on the Reservation. There were Indians and other white guys from other ranches. They seemed to be sorting out cattle on the go and each taking theirs off, either on foot or in trailers.

I saw this guy ride up the road and pull into this road to block it so I rode on in with him to get out of the way as the cattle were driven on by.

 

There was a nice reservoir right behind him which looked like it would be nice to kayak, but not today.

 

It seems I drove right into the middle of their roundup. I pulled over to let these guys go by as I didn’t want to make their job any harder by spooking the herd.

 

These are only a few of the trailers parked along the rode where they were working the cattle. They use these to bring their work horses out and also use some of them to haul some cattle back to their ranches.

 

Load them up

I stopped short of these guys as I could see they were working on getting some cattle loaded in one of the trailers. That’s easier said than done. It took about 45 minutes for them to get them into the trailer before I could pass without causing trouble. I really didn’t mind the wait as it’s all just part of the trip.

 

Gas and internet

That was the last batch I had to wait for so I made it to the Reservation Store in about another half hour where I gassed up the van and then headed here to use the internet, the Tribal Courts building.

 

Studied the maps

I studied the maps and looked at how much time I had left in the day and made plans to make it back to the Willow Creek Reservoir to camp for the night. I had about an hour and a half of driving to make it to the reservoir, Mostly all back roads.

I went by this nice green meadow on a ranch on the way.

 

And I noticed the aspens have turned mostly yellow in the week since I went by here which means it’s getting colder at night.

 

I went by this old cemetery at Tuscarora which looked real interesting. Maybe I’ll stop by here to have a look on another trip. Rest in peace, all you old timers.

 

A spring

I’m getting a bit low on drinking water so I stopped to check out this spring but the cattle have it too messed up to get any clean water. They aren’t as fussy as I am.

 

It wasn’t far past that spring to Willow Creek Reservoir where I pulled onto the dam to camp for the night.

Plans

Tomorrow, I plan to drive to Winnemucca to gas up and then start heading west. I’ll be trying a new route to get back to the forest that I was at earlier in the trip where I plan to spend some time.

Nice day.

Thursday September 27, 2023 Bull Run Road Nevada, Idaho

Riddle Ranch

I sat around camp this morning considering my options of what to do today. I knew I wanted to go to the Indian Reservation to get gas and post some blogs.

Then I needed to  make up my mind on where I wanted to explore today. I was thinking I should explore a part of the Reservation I  hadn’t been on before so I studied the maps for a couple of hours, mostly just taking it easy and enjoying the camp spot.

I made up my mind to explore the south western part of the Reservation, so that was settled.

Big Jet

Just before I was ready to leave, the big jet I saw yesterday, roared in about about a 100 feet over  my head and banked right over my van. That was exciting.

To me, jets mean freedom. They keep wars off our soil. And when I was in Vietnam, they meant no other jets would be attaching me from above, which is a big thing. :O)

Heading out

I packed up and headed to the Reservation Store going by some of the Riddle Ranch cattle that are on the winter pasture.

 

I got gas at the store in Owyhee and went into the hardware store to get something where I ran into Irwin, an Indian guy I know.We shot the bull for awhile then I headed on over to the Tribal Court house to use the internet there.

A ride out Bull Run Creek Road

The ride started out on the Reservation going southwest then went along the Bull Run Creek which was a bunch of big green meadows that the sign said was or used to be the Penton Ranch. I know it used to be a real big ranch but am not sure what it is now.

This is what the road looked like when it left the paved road on the Reservation.

 

Then I started to come into the cattle ranch country.

 

The road went right through this guys place. He was working his horses right out on the road and waved, as I did, when I went on by, going real slow out of respect.

 

One of the large ranches on this road with the green meadow.

 

That’s Sheep Creek Reservoir. You can camp and boat and fish on this lake. I don’t think there’s a charge, but I’m not sure. It’s a public reservoir.

 

This is what can happen if you are coming this way and make the turn too fast. It looks like it’s been here for quite some time.

 

The roads were long and mostly straight once I left the Bull Run Creek Valley and the wash-board wasn’t too bad either.

 

I had to open and close about six of these gates on the road. There weren’t any locks, as it’s a public road, going through a lot of BLM areas.

 

I went by these old cabins along the side of the road. They were old and haven’t been used in a long time.

 

Stateline

It was about 38 miles to the state line which is just up ahead. There turned out to be a high pressure gas pumping station there on the left to my surprise. This is were Nevada goes into Idaho.

 

I’m coming up on the Stateline here. I was also surprised to see these old cabins in this spot right at the line.

 

Gas pumping station

I checked out the pump station first.

 

Then I drove the short distance to the cabins where there was also a cattle working corral. I camped far enough away from the cabins to stay away from any rats in the night.

 

Of course I checked out the cabins. I found this in the one on the right.

 

I think the place was originally one of the big ranch’s summer cattle operations as there were wells with  ten or so very big water troughs for water for the cattle. There’s not a drop of water there now.

Sunset

Looking to the west through the gas pumping station.

 

Plans

I have a few miles to go yet, to get back on the Reservation, and about 25 miles to go to get back to Owyhee, the town on the Reservation. The road is called the Stateline road. I plan to take my time travelling on it and maybe stop at a reservoir to camp, or maybe not, we’ll see.

Nice day.

Today

I made the loop and am back at the Duck Valley Reservation for gas and posting this blog.

From here, I think I’ll start heading back towards Winnemucca slowly camping at my places, so I’ll take a few days to get there.

You’ll have to wait for today’s  blog until l get it written. I got caught in a bunch of cowboys rounding up  cattle on the Reservation which was ok with me.