The Great Western Loop: Canyons and Afterburners

With both Idaho and a stop for provisioning behind us, we made our way into Oregon. This was the first time Kiefer and I had been to this state and I was excited about exploring some of the very cool places it has to offer in the Owyhee area.

As you drive across this remote area, everything looks pretty flat without any major landmarks. Looks are deceiving however, as there is a large canyon less than 700 feet away on parts of the drive. The canyon is also very deep, nearly 1,000 feet from rim to river in some locations.

Our plans for the night would see us dropping some 850 feet into the canyon to setup camp on the banks of the Owyhee River.

Within minutes of exiting the truck to checkout various spots to camp, we heard the unmistakable rumble of a fighter jet rolling through the canyon. Quickly scanning the skies below the near total cloud cover, I caught a glimpse of an F-15 doing a hard bank above the canyon’s rim not far from were we had entered. The solid layer of clouds that had built up during the afternoon hid the rest of the jets that we heard rumbling above us. The only other jets we saw were a pair that appeared to be heading back to base at a high rate of speed and at high altitude as the sun began to set.

When the jets were not flying around, there was still lots to see with all of the different canyons merging at this spot.

Continuing our game of finding faces in the landscape from our previous trips, we found several faces in this rock formation like a stone golem and a titan’s head. Do you see them?