Sparta road trip...

Met my BIL and SIL at their river house on the Columbia Thursday morning.  We hooked up the boat, loaded provisions, three dogs, guns, chainsaw, them, and me, and headed out for their Sparta cabin. 

 

on the way to Sparta & the Eagle Cap Wilderness

 

We arrived early afternoon, stashed our gear and went out to hunt for firewood, and mushrooms.  Didn't take long to find a dry Tamarack, saw it into rounds, and load up the back of the pickup. That taken care of we got into hunting for Morels. I'd never been mushroom hunting before, but after some tutelage from my BIL I sorta knew what to look for.  My SIL was the first to find a Morel.

 We ended up with a bag full of Morels, and a smaller amount of 'cauliflower' (called that because they look like cauliflower) mushrooms. 

soaking the Morels before cooking

My SIL cooked them for dinner the next night, and after eating the Morels I can see what all the fuss is about. Heavenly!

Next morning we hooked up the boat and went fishing on Brownlee  Reservoir on the Snake.

 

old cabin on the Idaho side of the Snake

It was hotter than hell, and we weren't catching much when my SIL said, "D.R. I'm going to get damn cranky if you don't get us girls back to the cool of the cabin, with a glass of wine in our hands, soon!" My BIL is no fool, we were soon back at the cabin.

Next morning we went on a tour of the area.  Beautiful country. We found where No Name City was during our travels.

As well as Lost Gulch, Conundrum Creek, Tackle Gulch, and Sufferin Smith Spring to name a few. I enjoy unusual place names.

Granite Mtn

 

A lot of meadows like this one

my rock stack on Eagle Creek at the trail head to the Eagle Cap Wilderness

 

Eagle creek

We found more Morels on our journey and another Tamarack to cut and bring back to the cabin. On the way back to the cabin the wind was swirling and the pine pollen was so thick it looked like smoke. My BIL & SIL had never seen that before. I had from summer cowcamps. 

 When we got back to the cabin we cleaned a fire break around the cabin, did chores, watched a movie, and went to bed.  I had the windows open in my bedroom upstairs and around 1AM the wind picked up and a massive thunder storm rolled in with rain & hail.  I was laying in my sleeping bag watching the light show, when my SIL came up with her flashlight and said, "Come down and see this! D.R. won't get up and watch it with me, and I knew you would!"  We went down to the porch and watched an amazing light show for close to an hour. It was constant lightening, and thunder boomers. It's pretty darn hard to beat a thunderstorm in the mountains for entertainment.

We got up late the next morning and packed up to hit the road for the River House. They showed me where the keys were and said "Anytime, you want to come here you can!"

Just as we were coming out of the forest we came on a family trailing their cows and calves to the summer range. They chatted with us as we waited for the cows to get past. Sure made me home sick for the life.

We had seen cows, horses, pronghorns, whooping cranes, deer, turkeys, rattlesnakes, grouse, but no elk (just tracks) and no bear. 

I rode in the back seat of the pickup with two of the three dogs, the guns, and a cool chest on the way back. As you can see, Joe & Grace, are seasoned travelers.

 We had loaded an elk head and antlers on top of the stuff in the pickup bed to take to the River House.  My SIL said we looked like the damn Clampett's going down the road... lol

I stayed at the River House that night and came home early the next morning. Brought back a bag of Morels for my cousin, a couple jars of honey from my niece in Prineville, and a couple rocks from Eagle Creek.  It was an amazing time.