The Big Jack’s Wilderness area encompasses over 52,000 acres of the remote Owyhee Desert, part of the west’s vast Basin and Range. Vegetation consists mostly of bunch grasses and sagebrush. A few remote ruins record hard lives eked out by early settlers to the area.
The skeleton of this apple tree marks the stone ruins of the Al Sade homestead.
I found the Al Sade name in BLM documents, but could find no personal history. The red rock was carefully cut and hauled from a red hill about half a mile away from this site. How many back breaking trips did that require? Who lived here? How many children were born or died here? What stories do this rocks hold dear?
The area is named for the Big Jack’s River that sometimes runs through it and drains into the larger Bruneau River, then ultimately into the Snake River. I visited this area during the first week in April of a record dry year. We walked about four miles up the dry river bed before finding fresh flowing water which seemed to simply dive underground at its terminus. Poison ivy decorates the river bed.
I have no idea what this “fence” is for. It is bolted right into the rock.
Rhyolite and basalt rock walls rise up to 700 feet in some areas. Twisted, jointed, and whorled rock testify to the horrendous forces of earth’s core.
Oops. I didn’t notice the graphic porn when I framed the pictures.
Bigfoot’s adjustable wrench, perhaps?
Cracks and caves provide inviting hideouts for animals and perhaps people as well.
A pile of poop just outside the door of this cave says something about its inhabitants.
The inside is littered with picked-clean food scraps.

And if the pile of poop weren’t enough, this limb, perched ominously on a rock in front of the cave veritably shouts a warning.
Happily, I made it out with all my limbs intact. And I learned a few things about my iPhone camera.
You are a “rock” star.
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Heh, heh. Thanks, Keith.
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No need to post a “Keep Out” sign. The poop and limb say it. Looks like a cool place to hike. Your iPhone camera takes great photos, Linda.
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Good point! Animal signage.
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Great pics as always. What a story you could weave around these rocks and caves!
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You think? Hmmm. I never thought of writing a story about them. Good idea for an exercise. Thanks. Now all I need is some time.
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The photo just above the ‘oops’ image, i see an easter island moai profile…
and yes, that ‘limb’ would make me think more than twice about spending the night in that area!
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Cool. I’ve never been to Easter Island. Only seen pics. I think I see what you’re getting at, though.
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Hey! You just might convince me to get an iPhone.
Really like your latest on the rugged Owyhee’s.
Am attaching a photo or two from the 6 week USA trip Jennifer and I drove in April-May and about collapsed from having done it – We’ve recovered by now, of course – I Think. Also attaching a great Charlie Brown cartoon I now have on my wall; plus 3 from our trip (I just realized all 3 photos are of the West – Rushmore, Devils Tower and the Bighorn Mts. Must be am no longer an Iowa farm boy.
Bob,
Hope you are doing and feeling well.
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Thanks, Bob. I never did get your attachments. Or maybe I did but was foolish enough to let them slip by into cyberspace. I’ve had mixed results trying to stay in touch from overseas. And it’s been horrendously expensive to do so.
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The limb seems to suggest slim pickings. The whatever it was that stripped bare it must be awfully hungry by now. Run! Linda! Run!
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I try not to run with my house on my back. It’s very hard to control my impish impulses to run, skip, and jump, but that extra 35 lbs. is quite dangerous to cavort around under. 😉
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I saw the Easter Island “head” too … your phone takes better shots than my “real” camera.
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I don’t think that’s true, Sybil. Like me, you’re too critical of your own work. But thanks for the compliment. 😉
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great shots – iphones are fun and a pain. They take great shots considering. I use an app from Picmonkey.com (free) to clean up what the iphone cant
Hope you are enjoying your summer 🙂
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You summed up iPhonography accurately. Fun but a pain! I find that if I resist the urge to zoom, the images are pretty darn good. They do great in low, natural light situations.
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The silence of the place is pretty palpable through the photos. Well done Linda. I read somewhere that a lot of the lower Owyhees was originally vegetated by beautiful natural grasses…which drew the early ranching homesteaders. A hundred years or so of over grazing dried it out and opened it to the sagebrush we see today. There are people who would like to restore at least some areas to grasses which would be quite a transformation.
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Glad that mood came through, Dia. I don’t think I’d heard of the Owyhee’s previous grassland vegetation, but I don’t doubt it. I read an interesting book years ago called “Grassland: The History, Biology, Politics, and Promise of the American Prairie,” by Richard Manning. It focused mostly on the mid and northwest tall prairie grasslands and how diverse and biologically rich they were. Of course, early in the 20th century we wrecked them by plowing them under and planting wheat and corn.
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