Hoodoos And Honeycombs For Me!

 

 This past Saturday I went for a hike out at Leslie Gulch- an area of BLM public land that I had learned about in a presentation at REI about local winter hiking destinations. In order to get to the trails, you have to drive for miles and miles on a gravel road through farms and cow pastures until you finally reach the sign. After driving past the sign, the earth opens up into these incredible rock formations (hoodoos as I have learned they are called) and the road winds through them until it dead ends at the Owyhee Reservoir. I drove all the way to the end and walked along the reservoir for a few minutes before hopping back in my car and heading up to the real reason I made the trek- Juniper Gulch Trail. The speaker at the REI presentation was a local guidebook author and he promised some incredible views and impressive rock formations on this hike, and let me tell you- it did not disappoint! The hike was a fairly short one, but it involved a lot of scrambling through cracks in the rocks and up some smaller rock faces (at least that was the case for the route that I chose to take) so it was a bit of a workout- but the views were nothing short of amazing!! I found some neat little outcroppings to lay or sit in and have a snack before I climbed up to a high point and read a chapter in my book, enjoying the warmth from the sun. Of the six people I encountered on the trail, one of them was Tess- another PCEI AmeriCorps member from Boise! What are the chances?!
I'm excited to visit some of the other trails I learned about in the REI presentation soon!
How Neat Is That?!

The view from the top! What a beaut!

 

SO many honeycombe!